TWENTY-FIRST AND 



TWENTY-SjECOND ANNUAL 
REPORTS OF THE SUPERIN- 



TENDENT OF SCHOOLS 



1918-1920. HIGH SCHOOLS 




Glass. 
Book 



BOARD OF EDUCATION, Bx^t^ 

THE CITY OF NEW YORK 4JlJ^Jj^, ® 



Twenty-first & Twenty-second 

Annual Reports 

of the 

Superintendent of Schools 
1918-1920 



HIGH SCHOOLS 



CIVICS 



GENERAL SCIENCE 



AGRICULTURE 



ART 



MODERN LANGUAGES 



PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 
JULY 13, 1920 



RECEIVED 

C ^C 'J 9 J923 



U3M 

,M5*A3 



BOARD OF EDUCATION 

OF 

THE CITY OF NEW YORK 



ANNING S. PRALL, President 
GEORGE J. RYAN, Vice-President 

Borough of Manhattan 

Mrs. EMMA L. MURRAY JOSEPH YESKA 

Borough of Brooklyn 

Dr. JOHN A. FERGUSON ARTHUR S. SOMERS 

Borough of The Bronx 

FRANK D. WILSEY 

Borough of Queens 

GEORGE J. RYAN 

Borough of Richmond 
ANNING S. PRALL 



Superintendent of Schools 
WILLIAM L. ETTINGER 



INDEX 

Page 

Letter of Superintendent Ettinger 7 

Report of Superintendent Tildsley 13 

Register in High Schools 13 

Shortage of Teachers 18 

Register of Pupils by Sex 18 

Register of Pupils in All Courses, March, 1920 20 

Applicants for Admission to High Schools, June, 1920 ' 22 

General Aims of This Division During 1918-20 24 

Report on Supervised Study in DeWitt Clinton High School 30 

Success in Reducing Failure in High School of Commerce 34 

Failure of First-Term Pupils; Intelligence and Prognosis Tests. . 36 

Prognosis Tests in Modern Languages 51 

Adaptation of Curriculum to Vocational Needs 52 

Elementary General Science 54 

Red Cross Home Nursing Course 54 

Training for Citizenship 56 

Economics Required for Graduation 59 

European History Required 60 

New High School Buildings 66 

A Cooperative High School 67 

Setting Off the Far Rockaway High School Department as an 

Independent High School 69 

Report of Mr. Frank A. Rexford, assigned to Division of High 

Schools 72 

t 

Civics 72 

Conferences 72 

Material for Study, Cooperation 73 

The Syllabus Committee 74 

Writing a Text Book — The Civics Monographs 75 

Monographs Widely Read 76 

Civic Assemblies 77 



Page 

Block Captains 77 

Extension of Civic Activities 77 

Snow Removal 77 

Farm Service 80 

Camps 80 

Individual Workers 81 

Wages 81 

Prospect for 1920 81 

Agriculture 82 

General Science 86 

General Science in DeWitt Clinton High School 87 

Plans for Shop Work for General Science Pupils , 89 

General Organization in High Schools 90 

Financial Statement for 1919 90 

Financial Statement for 1920 91 

Typical General Organization Constitution 94 

Lunch Rooms in High Schools 102 

Financial Statement for 1919 102 

Financial Statement for 1920 103 

Typical Menus 104 

Average Percentage Cost for All Lunch Rooms 104 

Reports of High Schools for the Year 1919-1920 105 

Julia Richman N . 105 

Washington Irving 106 

Evander Childs 116 

Bay Ridge 118 

Morris 121 

Boys' 122 

Commercial 125 

Curtis 126 

Stuyvesant 128 

Preparation in English of High School Pupils Intending to Teach., 131 

Oral English 132 



Page 

Oral Reading 135 

Written English 136 

Syllabus in Word Study 136 

Mass Athletics at Erasmus Hall High School 142 

Erasmus Hall Rapid Advancement Classes 155 

Practical Training for Citizenship 156 

Another Year of Progress in Mass Athletics at Erasmus Hall High 

School 157 

General Organization Activities in Erasmus Hall High School 159 

The Instruction of Blind Pupils at Wadleigh 159 

Newtown High School 161 

Scholarships Received 162 

Music 162 

Bushwick High School, First Year Commercial Unit Course 164 

Some Notes Culled from Reports of High Schools 168 

Changes in Principals • • 169 

Syllabus of English 8 P., DeWitt Clinton High School 170 

A New Course in the Richmond High School 172 

Occupational Guidance in Julia Richman High School 174 

Recommendations of Superintendent Tildsley 176 

Report of Wm. A. Boylan, District Superintendent Assigned to 

High Schools 180 

Report of James P. Haney, Director of Art in High Schools 188 

Report for 1919 188 

Report for 1920 212 

Report of Lawrence A. Wilkins, Director of Modern Languages in 

High Schools 237 

APPENDIX A 
Decision of Acting Commissioner of Education, Thomas E. Fine- 
gan, in the Matter of the Appeal of Thomas Mufson, A. Henry 

Schneer, and Samuel D. Schmalhausen 257 



July 13, 1920. 
To the Board of Education, 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

I beg leave to submit for your information and consideration 
the report on high schools for the years 1918 to 1920, prepared 
by Dr. John L. Tildsley, Associate Superintendent in charge of 
the same during that period. 

The report presents in interesting detail important phases of 
current high school work, and is impressingly indicative not only 
of the skill and the enthusiasm of our high school teachers and 
principals, but also of the energy and the intelligence which 
characterized Dr. Tildsley's administration. 

The steady, growth of our high school system reflected in the 
doubling of the high school register during the past ten years 
makes it absolutely necessary that, in accordance with the rec- 
ommendations contained not only in his report but in your 
building program presented for adoption for 1921, financial pro- 
vision be made for buildings for the Julia Richman, the Browns- 
ville, the New Utrecht, and the George Washington High 
Schools, and that funds be provided for additions to the Curtis, 
the Manual Training, and the Richmond Hill High Schools. 

Not only should there be a reduction in the size of high school 
organizations such as the Washington Irving, the DeWitt Clin- 
ton, and the Stuyvesant High Schools, the registers of which 
approximating five thousand each make necessary the use of 
school facilities far beyond their normal capacities, but we should 
also aim, in the interests of our children, to locate the new high 
schools in closer proximity to the pupil groups which they 
accommodate, and thus lessen the dangers, inconveniences, loss 
of time, and expense incident to long journeys made twice daily. 



The development of a cooperative high school marks an 
interesting development in high school organization. The school 
ought to be very successful, as it will give a concreteness and 
reality to high school instruction that is sometimes missing, and 
will probably solve in a very definite and economical way certain 
problems of commercial education and vocational guidance. 

I regret that lack of financial ability has prevented to date 
the development of the technical industrial course planned for 
Manual Training High School, and also the agricultural course 
introduced into Newtown High School in September, 1919. 

As Dr. Tildsley points out, the increase in the number of 
teaching positions has made it extremely difficult during the 
past two years to secure competent teachers because the inade- 
quate salaries paid meant a diversion of the teacher supply, 
through resignation and refusal of appointment, to other lines 
of professional work in which remuneration was greater. For- 
tunately, the enactment of the Lockwood-Donohue bill has ma- 
terially relieved the situation, although experience will probably 
show that only a recession in prices or a further increase in 
salary will insure a supply of high school teachers sufficient in 
number and skill to meet our needs. 

The efficiency of our high school instruction depends, in large 
part, on the manner in which pupils are grouped so as to make 
success possible by reasonable effort and sympathetic coopera- 
tion. Much of high school mortality and poor scholastic results 
are due to the crudity of method used in assorting children. One 
of the most interesting aspects of this report is the abundant 
evidence of the keen interest high school principals and teachers 
have shown in the intelligence and diagnostic tests that have 
been recently developed and which they have increasingly used 
with discrimination and success. There is also abundant evi- 
dence to show that by means of proper classification and carefully 
supervised study, the instruction is not only being individualized 
but also that the different social activities of the schools afford 
ample opportunity to enable high school pupils to develop habits 
of initiative and cooperation which are basic, not only to suc- 
cess in school, but also to material success and good citizenship 
in adult life. For example, 1 am sure that very few not inti- 



mately connected with the high schools realize that as a result 
of the volunteer activities of pupils and their generous contri- 
bution to funds used to finance activities in which they are 
interested, the combined high school General Organizations 
handle approximately a quarter of a million dollars each term. 
Such loyalty on the part of our high school pupils is the outgrowth 
of school administration that successfully identifies the pupil 
with the school, not only through formal instruction but through 
enlistment of his services during out of school time in numerous 
wholesome social activities. Music, athletics, and the drama 
are fields of self-expression which supplement while they enrich 
the formal studies of the high school curriculum. 

To meet the demands of the individual, and of the com- 
munity, the course of study has been undergoing constant modi- 
fication and enrichment. Even a casual reading of this report 
will show- the successful efforts that have been made to adjust 
the course of study not only to meet the varying abilities of 
pupils, but also to meet the social demands during the period of 
war and reconstruction. To illustrate the matter, I need only 
to allude to such experiments in grouping and instruction as are 
reported by Principals Paul, Snyder and Wolfson, the introduc- 
tion of civics, economics, and European history to give additional 
insight into current social problems, the experiment with one 
year commercial courses as in Bushwick and the successful 
modification of the first year course in Mathematics, as in the case 
of the Stuyvesant High School. Marked success has attended 
the development of such phases of high school work as physical 
training, instruction in foreign languages, civics and art. I 
think we are justified in claiming that as regards these subjects, 
our schools are the peer of any other school system. However, 
the work in other subjects, especially commercial subjects, is of 
widely varying degrees of effectiveness, due in part to our im- 
perfect supervisory scheme, and I heartily concur in Dr. Tilds- 
ley's recommendation that provision should be made for a 
director of commercial branches. As we are spending annually 
approximately one million dollars for teaching business sub- 
jects, the salary of a competent supervisor at the rate of $6,000 
per annum would be an overhead of only two-thirds of one 



per cent. The increase in efficiency that would result from 
intensive supervision would more than offset the additional 
cost. 

I cannot refrain from commenting upon the patriotic spirit 
that has characterized the work and the administration of the 
high schools during the past years. The year books of the 
different high schools are replete with photographs, biographies, 
and anecdotes of our graduates and teachers who either made 
the supreme sacrifice or distinguished themselves by rendering 
excellent service in war or related activities. The following 
excerpt from Mr. Wilkins' report on the service rendered by 
teachers of foreign languages is typical : 

"It is not possible to give in detail the work done by language 
teachers in war service; but some of them contributed able help to 
the winning of the war. It is fitting to mention here, at least briefly, 
some of these teachers and their work. Among the men were: 
Captain Robert B. Marvin, first assistant in German, and Lieuten- 
ant William A. Barlow, Spanish, both of Commercial High School, 
War Department, Washington; Captain Robert H. Keener, first 
assistant in German and French, Evander Childs High School, with 
the Army of Occuption in Germany; Lieutenants John S. Norris, 
German, Stuyvesant; Eugene Jackson, German, and Austin M. 
Works, German, both of DeWitt Clinton, all in the Army of Oc- 
cupation; Major Colman D. Frank, first assistant in French, De- 
Witt Clinton, with the Second American Army during hostilities 
as Chief Intelligence Officer in charge of the Order of Battle of 
the German forces, and, after the armistice, Secretary of the 
American Mission and interpreter for the English-speaking allies 
at the Permanent International Armistice Commission of Spa; 
decorated with the French Legion d'Honneur and the Belgian 
Croix de Guerre; Abraham Kroll, Spanish, DeWitt Clinton 
special service in the Navy; Lieutenants Herbert C. Skinner, 
French and Spanish, and Charles G. Montross, German and Span- 
ish, both of the High School of Commerce and in the Army of 
Occupation; Sergeant J. B. Zacharie, French, DeWitt Clinton, with 
the French Army from the beginning to the end of the war, who 
was in 1917-1918 assigned to the American Army as interpreter and 
who won the Croix de Guerre for heroism at Verdun; Sergeant 
Leonard Covello, Spanish, DeWitt Clinton, in the intelligence po- 
lice, Franco-Spanish border; Dr. Guillermo A. Sherwell, Spanish, 
New Utrecht High School, legal adviser to the International High 
Commission, United States Section, Treasury Department, Wash- 
ington; and Edward O. Perry, first assistant in French and Span- 

10 



ish, Newtown High School, special work for the peace conference 
delegation. All the above men volunteered their services." 

Additional evidences of this patriotic spirit, apart from the 
magnificent contributions made by the schools in all patriotic 
drives, are the modification in the course of study, especially in 
civics, economics, history and physical training, and the elimina- 
tion of a limited group of teachers whose political views and 
whose abuse of the privileges of the classroom were such as to 
make them a menace to our children. 

As the action of the Board of Education in ousting these 
teachers has given rise to considerable discussion, the decision 
of the Acting State Commissioner of Education, Honorable 
Thomas E. Finegan, is included in the report as an appendix, 
and I will conclude this foreword by quoting the concluding 
paragraphs of the same as they express the common viewpoint 
held not only by the Acting Commissioner, but by all good 
citizens : : 

"It must be held that teachers have the same right to form 
judgments and to express opinions upon public questions that other 
citizens possess. A teacher is not compelled to sacrifice his indi- 
viduality, his personal liberties or his judgment upon social and 
public problems simply because he is a teacher. Upon questions 
on which citizens generally may express different opinions or judg- 
ments, a teacher has the right to express his opinion and to form 
his own judgment. The power conferred by law upon the Commis- 
sioner of Education will be freely exercised to protect this right of 
a teacher whenever the authority over such teacher attempts to re- 
strict or annihilate it. There is, however, no difference of opinion 
among the patriotic citize#s of this country as to the duty of all 
Americans in supporting the President of the United States and the 
government in the prosecution of this war. This support must be 
open, direct and unassailable. There is also no difference of opinion 
among the patriotic people of this State or Nation as to the obli- 
gation of every person who assumes the office of teacher of boys 
in a public school of the State to support the government, to teach 
respect and love for our democratic institutions and for the Presi- 
dent as such of this republic. The standard by which teachers are 
to be judged in this respect was well stated by Doctor John H. 
Finley, Commissioner of Education, in an address before the teach- 
ers of the State at the annual meeting of their associations at Syra- 
cuse in November, 1917. His words upon this subject are as fol- 
lows: 

" 'As to ourselves, the teachers, representing as we do the State 



which has entrusted to us her most precious possession, there is 
just one answer. We must do with our mind and daily speech 
what the soldier does with his body and in his daily training or 
fighting; that is, support our country in the cause to which it is 
committed in its own defense and that of human freedom. The 
same degree of loyalty is asked of a teacher as of a soldier. If a 
teacher cannot give that unquestioning support to the country that 
makes his own individual freedom in time of peace possible, his 
place is not in the school. I will not say where it is, but of all 
places in the world, he should not be in the school as the repre- 
sentative of his country'." 

Very truly yours, 

WILLIAM L. ETTINGER, 

Superintendent of School: 



July 1st, 1920. 

Dr. William L. Ettinger, 

Superintendent of Schools. 

Dear Sir : — 

In answer to your request I submit the following combined 
report for the years 1918-1920 for Division VII (High Schools) 
to which I have been assigned : 

The following figures furnished by Mr. Wright, Director of 
High School Organization, of pupil registration, number of 
teachers by ranks for the high schools as a whole and for each 
high school separately will be of value as showing the size of the 
problem of the administration of the high schools of this city. 

Register 

During the eight years, 1909-1916, the high school register 
maintained an average annual increase of 4,730. The abnormal 
conditions produced by the war wiped out this increase in 
1916-1T, and in 1917-18, there was a decrease of 3,119 in October 
and 931 in March. Now we seem to be returning to normal 
conditions again and while the increase in register during 
1918-19 was comparatively slight the register for October, 1919, 
and March, 1920, show that our high schools are increasing in 
size almost as rapidly as before the war. The following table 
gives the registers and changes on March 31 and October 31 
during the past twelve years. 



INCREASE IN REGISTER 
March Over Preceding March 



Year Register, March 31 Increase 

1909 33,016 5,585 

1910 36,592 3,576 

1911 39,535 2,943 

1912 43,802 4,267 

1913 47,836 4,034 

1914 ,52,674 4,838 

1915 61,735 9,061 

1916 66,203 4,468 

1917 66,237 34 

1918 65,306 931* 

1919 65,998 692 

1920 68,981 2,983 

*Decrease. Average increase for 12 years — 3,462 



Percent of Inc. 
20.4 
10.8 

8. 
10.8 

9.2 
10.1 
17.2 

7.2 
.05 

1.4 

1.06 

4.5 



INCREASE IN REGISTER 
October Over Preceding October 



Year Register, Oct. 31 Increase 

1908 29,184 5,673 

1909 33,334 4,150 

1910 36,624 3,290 

1911 39,336 2,712 

1912 43,628 4,292 

1913 47,947 4,319 

1914 54,766 6,819 

1915 63,142 8,376 

1916 65,690 2,548 

1917 62,571 3,119* 

1918 62,820 249 

1919 66,617 3,797 

*Decrease. Average increase for 12 years — 3,592 



Percent of Inc. 
24.1 
14.2 

9.9 

7.4 
10.9 

9.9 
14.2 
15.3 

3.9 

4.75 
.4 

5.7 



The following table shows the relative number of pupils and 
teachers in the high schools during the past five years : 









Regis- 


1st 




Lab. 


Cler. 


Lib. 












ter 


Asst. 


Asst. 


Asst. 


Asst. 


Asst. 


Others 


i Total 


Oct. 


31, 


1915.. 


..63,142 


157 


2195.8 


28 


87 


30 


7 


2504.8 


Mar. 


31, 


1916. 


...66,203 


155 


2261.8 


31 


94 


31 


6 


2578.8 


Oct. 


31, 


1916. 


. .65,690 


160 


2298.2 


34 


96 


32 


6 


2626.2 


Mar. 


31, 


1917. 


..66,237 


171 


2245.6 


38 


95 


32 


6 


2587.6 


Oct. 


31, 


1917. 


. .62,571 


172 


2334.8 


37 


98 


35 


6 


2582.8 


Mar. 


31, 


1918. 


..65,306 


169 


2260.4 


39 


101 


35 


6 


2610.4 


Oct. 


31, 


1918. 


. .62,820 


168 


2230.8 


39 


103 


35 


6 


2581.8 


Mar. 


31, 


1919. 


. .65,998 


166 


2344.8 


41 


107 


36 


6 


2700.8 


Oct. 


31, 


1919. 


..66,617 


176 


2401.8 


42 


108 


37 


7 


2771.8 


Mar. 


31, 


1920. 


..68,981 


212 


2450.8 


43 


111 


39 


6 


2861.8 



On October 31, 1915, with a register of 63,142 we had a teach- 
ing body of 2,504.8 or 25.2 pupils for each member of the teach- 
ing body, whereas on March 31, 1920, we had a register of 
68,981 pupils and 2,861.8 members of the teaching body only 
24.1 pupils for each position. This looks like a looser organiza- 
tion, but it is not. Teachers are still being assigned on the basis 
of one teacher for every 720 pupil periods as was the rule in 
1915. The increase in teachers is due to the increase in the num- 
ber of recitation periods on the pupils' programs, for example 
the one year unit commercial course calls for 35 periods of work 
as against the 26 of the old general course. The technical course 
of the Manual Training High School also calls for thirty-five 
periods per week. 

Two periods of civics have been added to the programs of all 
first year students, and in high schools where the gymnasium 
space, playgrounds of use of armories permit, physical training 
in accordance with the Welsh Taw has been given five periods 
a week instead of two. 

Economics has been made a requirement for graduation and 
in the case of many students adds an additional subject to the 
four years program ; English which was formerly given for a 
total of 16 periods for the four years is now given eighteen 
periods. These changes in the curriculum, desirable as they are 



educationally, add materially to the cost of instruction by reason 
of the increased amount of teaching necessary. The ratio be- 
tween teachers and pupils is therefore not a proper basis for 
measuring the economy of administration as is so often assumed. 
The pupil period load as used in New York high schools is a 
more accurate measuring rod. And even this is not an accurate 
measure, for it fails to take account of results. A school with a 
pupil period load of 780 and the percentage of failure in the first 
term of 35 is more wastefully managed than a school with a 
load of 720 and a percentage of failure of but 20. We so often 
fail to realize that the failure of pupils to be promoted is the 
greatest possible waste of taxpayers' money. This point is well 
brought out in the following table of costs of failure prepared by 
Principal Vosburgh, of the Jamaica High School, for that school. 
A report for all high schools on this basis would be of great 
value in bringing home to the principals the enormous waste 
of failure. 



Mr. Vosburgh's Table 

Jamaica High School 

Cost Sheet for Term Ending January 30, 1920 

Table showing salary cost of instructing pupils in each department; 
also the cost of failure in each department. 



Salary 

No. of Cost No. of Cost of 

Teachers Pupils Per Pupil Pupils Failure 

Department Salaries Taught Per Term Failed in Dept. 

English $10,473 1,145 $9.14 124 $1,133.34 

Latin 4,625 

Mod. Lang 5,795 

Mathematics 5,300 

Hist. & Com. Civ 6,255 

Gen. Science 4,029 

Phy. Science 3,521 

Com. Dept. (Ex. Pen.) 8,160 

Drawing 2,275 

Elocution 1,813 

Music 1,325 

Phy. Train., Boys 1,255 

Phys. Train., Girls 2,304 

Penmanship 885 

Hygiene, Boys 545 

Hygiene, Girls 596 



342 


13.52 


81 


1,095.12 


739 


7.84 . 


171 


1,340.64 


482 


11.00 


118 


1,298.00 


899 


6.95 


110 


764.50 


434 


9.26 


82 


759.32 


306 


11.51 


65 


748.15 


927 


8.77 


113 


991.09 


895 


2.54 


100 


254.00 


748 


2.41 


27 


65.07 


856 


1.55 


81 


125.55 


483 


2.59 


8 


20.72 


684 


3.36 


58 


194.88 


256 


3.45 


1 


3.45 


322 


1.69 


8 


13.52 


684 


.87 


23 


20.00 



$59,156 1170 $8,827.27 



Teachers' Salaries for the term $59,156.00 

Money spent in salaries for work which had to be repeated... 8,827.27 
Percentage of salaries for term ending January 30, 1920, which 

must be used in instructing pupils a second time 15% 

(Signed) CHARLES H. VOSBURGH, 

Principal. 

Further on in this report will be found an account of the 
campaign that has been carried on during the past two years to 
reduce the amount of failure in the high schools. To the extent 
that failure is due to large classes, large for reasons of economy, 



to that extent we are wasting, not saving money ; to the extent 
that failure is due to poorly paid teachers' to that extent again 
are we as administrators extravagant. During the past two 
years the percentage of failures has been reduced. This reduc- 
tion would justify the increased number of teachers if the in- 
creased programs of the pupils had not already accounted for it. 

Shortage of Teachers 

The increase in the number of teaching positions during the 
past two years has come at a time when it has been extremely 
difficult to secure competent teachers. The steadily decreasing 
value of the salary and the opportunities offered in other lines 
of work has decreased the supply of competent high school 
teachers. As a consequence we have been forced to lower the 
requirements for substitute teachers and take college graduates 
without teaching experience. We have employed from 150 to 
200 substitutes constantly. One-third of the persons nominated 
to fill vacancies in September, 1919, declined to accept their 
appointments chiefly because of inadequate salaries. If it were 
not for the Lockwood-Donohue Bill just passed, the condition 
of the high school teaching force this coming year would be des- 
perate. As it is, the teachers will not be as well paid as they 
were 18 years ago. Only a fall in prices or a further increase in 
salary can secure for us a permanent body of high school teachers 
of the ability, training and experience needed for the New York 
schools. The beginning salary of $1,900 ought to secure a suffi- 
cient number of regular teachers to decrease materially for the 
coming year the number of substitutes employed. 

Register of Pupils by Sex 

Dr. Ayres formulated recently ten standards for determining 
the efficiency of a school system. One of the ten was the pro- 
portion of boys to girls in the high schools. Although New 
York State ranks 13th under his scheme of classification, in this 
one matter of the ratio of boys to girls it ranks first, and it ranks 
first because of the large proportion of boys in the high schools 
of New York City, the highest in the United States, being, as 



shown by the following table 35,019 boys to 33,962 girls or 103.1 
boys to 100 girls, whereas in many communities there are two 
girls to every boy enrolled in high schools. 

The following facts are of interest: 

1. That not 50 per cent of the pupils are in the first year as 
commonly stated, but 40 per cent. 

2. That in boroughs where coeducation predominates, as 
in The Bronx, Queens and Richmond, there are fewer boys than 
girls ; that in only one coeducational school, Manual Training 
High School, are there more boys than girls, and in that school, 
the exception is due to the courses offered. One conclusion, at 
least, seems to be valid, namely, that given a choice, boys prefer 
to go to boys' schools. 

3. That whereas there are 27 more girls than boys in the 
third year, in the fourth year there are 1,073 more boys than 
girls. This is due to the fact that the three year commercial 
course enrolls chiefly girls, while the boys take the four year 
courses : 



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a 



APPLICANTS FOR ADMISSION TO HIGH SCHOOLS, JUNE, 1920, AND 

THE NUMBER ACTUALLY ADMITTED. DISTRIBUTED 

ACCORDING TO COURSE AND LANGUAGE. 



Applicants 



HIGH SCHOOL 
BOROUGH 



LATIN 
Gen. Corn. Tech 



FRENCH 
Gen. Com. Tech 



SPANISH NO LANGUAGE 
Gen. Com. Tech Gen. Com. Tech 



Manhattan 
























DeWitt 


. 274 . 




184 






264 












*Commerce 




G. Washington .... 


35 . 




28 


13 




35 


65 










Richman 








117 






582 






17 




Stuyvesant 




. 131 






276 






584 






18 


Wadleigh 


. 115 . 




172 






96 












Washington Irving. 


. 46 . 




125 


115 


198 


54 


414 


90 


3 


6 


5 




470 . 


. 131 


509 


345 


474 


449 


1061 


674 


3 


23 


23 


Bronx 
























Evan. Ch 


. 188 . 




75 


39 




110 


268 






27 


19 


Morris 


. 175 . 




208 






364 






5 






Roosevelt 






22 






267 






18 








363 . 




305 


39 




741 


268 




23 


27 


19 



88 
466 



Brooklyn 

Bay Ridge 

Boys 

Bushwick 68 

Commercial 

Eastern District 119 

Erasmus Hall 401 

Girls 209 

Girls Commercial 

Manual Training . . . 205 
New Utrecht 20 



73 ... 
73 ... 

18 33 
... 36 

19 23 
174 ... 

90 ... 

48 

143 ... 

14 3 



1576 



292 

150 

60 

53 
326 

160 

300 
30 



310 

45 



28 


77 ... 


7 






615 ... 




95 ... 




304 ... 


3 






34 ... 



38 727 390 



Queens 

Bryant 21 

Far Rockaway . 

Flushing 

Jamaica 

Newtown 83 

Richmond Hill . 



Richmond 
Curtis 



50 



21 . . 


7 


9 




37 


34 


28 117 




10 


25 


34 . . 




13 






34 






49 




97 .. 


4 


20 


16 


18 


11 


72 25 








89 . 




26 






48 






160 




83 . 




79 








111 ... 




125 


12 


123 . . 




63 


27 






155 ... 


4 


23 




447 .. 


11 


210 


43 


55 


127 


366 142 


4 


369 


37 



Total 2926 



261 



1640 470 529 2738 3006 816 69 1306 469 



'Not distributed by courses but included in totals. 

22 



APPLICANTS FOR ADMISSION TO HIGH SCHOOLS, JUNE, 1920, AND 

THE NUMBER ACTUALLY ADMITTED. DISTRIBUTED 

ACCORDING TO COURSE AND LANGUAGE. 

Admissions 



LATIN FRENCH 
Gen. Com. Tech Gen. Com. Tech 



SPANISH NO. LANGUAGE Total 
Gen. Com. Tech Gen. Com. Tech ap. 



Total 
ad. 



235 .. 

35 .. . 



100 
43 



134 

28 13 . .. 

107 ... 

108 351 

155 

113 110 173 



226 
35 



65 ... 
. . 519 ... 

396 

95 

50 351 72 



2 6 



722 595 

921 713 

176 176 

716 629 

1009 855 

383 350 

1056 922 



413 .. 108 



430 230 524 



406 935 468 



4983 4240 



169 
152 



59 30 
166 ... 



100 224 

244 

259 



726 616 
752 637 
307 259 



225 30 .... 



603 224 



75 17 17 



1785 1512 



83 

439 

62 



121 .. 
375 .. 
193 .. 



192 
19 



66 
70 
95 12 



161 
80 



122 
10 



39 

122 
1 



262 

127 

55 255 

572 

49 299 

308 

143 .... 

277 

265 265 

24 38 



23 


69 . 

140 . 
97 . 




3 


23 . 





. 362 

1 



558 
696 
809 
791 
518 
904 
459 
392 
1038 
114 



503 
636 
644 
700 
469 
847 
416 
339 
941 
93 



521 96 



1233 1441 



26 329 363 



6279 5588 



19 .. 


5 


8 




33 


34 


25 100 


... 10 


3 


288 


237 


34 .. 




13 






34 




... 49 




130 


130 


89 .. 


2 


18 


17 


19 


12 


70 21 






263 


248 


82 .. 




22 






43 




... 153 




323 


300 


78 .. 




65 








109 ... 


... 119 


12 


410 


383 


123 .. 




63 


27 






155 .... 


4 23 




395 


395 


425 .. 


7 


189 


44 


52 


123 


359 121 


4 354 


15 


1809 


1693 



83 . 




2 


29 


... 159 ... 


295 


273 


2726 . 


. 210 


1367 400 576 


2394 2959 589 


107 868 397 


15151 


13306 



General Aims of This Division During 1918-1920 

During- the past two years we have been trying in the high 
schools to apply the lessons learned in the world war. We 
have realized as never before that we must have a deliberately 
purposeful plan of training for citizenship in our high schools 
and we have therefore tried to build up such systematic teach- 
ing. Furthermore, we have had impressed upon us the neces- 
sity of adapting all our educational methods and plans to the 
needs of the individual. We have profited by the experience of 
the army which was so successful in picking out by means of 
tests the right men for the job and have likewise by means of 
intelligence tests sought to rediscover the individual and to 
retain the individual by means of forming class groups of indi- 
viduals within narrow ranges of ability. 

As a consequence of this more accurate classification of pupils 
on the basis of their intelligence, we are now in process of 
working over our courses of study, our syllabi of subject matter, 
and our methods of instruction. These points will be discussed 
later in the report. 

On the side of administration we have aimed to bring about 
more intelligent, systematic and thorough supervision and direc- 
tion of teaching in the high schools and we have sought to 
remove causes of distrust and ill-feeling by insisting that reports 
of any kind made upon a teacher shall be in writing and shall be 
shown to the teacher before being sent to headquarters. Real- 
izing that the present system of formal ratings of teachers by 
means of letters are unsatisfactory and largely ineffective, we 
have sought to individualize the teachers and obtain more ade- 
quate basis for a real merit system of promotion by asking each 
high school principal to file in the office of the division of high 
schools, at the close of each term, a card for each teacher reciting 
the special services, whether in the classroom, in student activ- 
ities, in administration, or in the formulation of educational 
methods and policies such teacher has rendered. It is planned 
to keep in this way an ever-growing record of teachers' services 
of signal worth which shall constitute an informal eligible list 
to be consulted when teachers are needed for promotion to 



higher positions. Allow me to insert a copy of the circular of 
instructions which was sent out from this office as a guide for 
accomplishing these desired ends : 



March 4, 1919. 



To the Principals of High Schools: 



The following regulations concerning the supervision of teachers in 
the high schools are hereby sent you: 

In a conference of the supervising officers of the High School Division, 
means of improving the teaching in the high schools were discussed. It 
was the opinion of the conference that the key to the situation is the 
chairman of the department; that we cannot have strong teaching in our 
high schools unless we have energetic chairmen, who are masters of their 
subjects, and of the methods of teaching them, and who are possessed of 
initiative and courage and a willingness to accept responsibility. It was 
further agreed that the principal of a school is largely responsible for 
the efficiency of his chairmen inasmuch as the chairmen are nominated 
for a term of one year by the principal of a school, subject to the ap- 
proval of the Board of Superintendents, and can be removed at any time, 
if inefficient by the Board of Superintendents. It is believed that strong 
chairmen can be developed by principals by systematic training and the 
delegation to them of authority, and that principals, therefore, should be 
made to realize their responsibility for the efficiency of- the chairmen of 
their department of instruction. As a means of bringing about this de- 
sired efficiency and of promoting a spirit of cooperation and team work 
in the Division of High Schools, the following measures were adopted 
as a working policy for the guidance of teachers, principals and super- 
visors of this Division: 

1. A copy of every report concerning any teacher sent to the office of 
the Division of High Schools is to be given or shown to the teacher con- 
cerning whcmi the report is made. 

2. Principals are to be asked to file with this office every term a state- 
ment of special services rendered by teachers more especially those 
services showing initiative and qualities of leadership, such reports to be 
made on 3x5 library cards. 

3. Both principals and supervising officers of the Division are to be 
asked to report on any special features of work and improvement in 
methods, made by chairmen of departments. 

4. Reports are to be filed each term by supervisors on the efficiency 
of chairmen as measured by the efficiency or inefficiency of their depart- 
ments. 



5. Supervisors are to file reports each year on the work of principals, 
emphasizing especially their use of chairmen and their ability to delegate 
routine duties to the members of their teaching staff. 

6. Chairmen of departments are to be required to visit at least twice 
each month each teacher not on a permanent license, and all teachers 
whose work shows need of improvement. 

7. Chairmen are to hold a conference with each substitute teacher and 
newly appointed teacher before he begins service and to confer with 
him at least once a week. 

8. Principals are to visit each teacher at least once a year, and teach- 
ers not on a permanent license, oftener. 

9. Written reports of visits to teachers by chairmen of departments 
are to be filed with the principal, and principals are to keep a written re- 
port of their own visits to teachers with the suggestions made to each 
teacher for the improvement of his work. 

10. Principals are expected to hold conferences of chairmen at least 
once a month and to keep a record of the topics discussed at each con- 
ference. 

11. Chairmen are to hold conferences of teachers at least once a 
month, and to file with the principal a report of the topics discussed at 
these conferences. 

12. Each principal shall forward to the associate superintendent in 
charge of high schools, at the close of each term, a brief report from 
each chairman, showing the dates on which departmental conferences 
were held and the topics taken up at each conference. 

13. The principals and the supervisors of this Division shall make 
suggestions to chairmen for the improvement of the departments and 
especially shall call their attention to inefficient teachers and ineffective 
methods and policies. If a chairman is unable to bring about needed 
improvements as a result of such suggestions, a change in the chair- 
manship would seem desirable. 

It was further agreed that both chairmen, principals and supervisors 
of this Division should be ready at all times to listen sympathetically 
to the real or fancied grievances of teachers and use every means in 
their power to remedy such grievances and secure the cooperation of 
the teachers. 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) JOHN L. TILDSLEY. 

Associate Superintendent of Schools. 



These cards have proved to be of very unequal value. One 
principal gave each teacher a card and told him to fill out his 
own record of conspicuous services. But the principals generally 
have selected only the more conspicuously worthy with the 
result that the cards made a real honor list. 

I would urge the members of the Board of Superintendents 
to look over this card index of teachers of conspicuous merit 
before deciding upon the teachers they are to select for promo- 
tion to higher positions. 

In my report for the year 1917-1918, I called attention to the 
high percentage of failures among students in the first year of 
. the high school. These failures I showed were due in part to 
the fact that some students although graduated from the elemen- 
tary schools were not fitted for further progress in the high 
schools, but in much larger measure in my judgment they were 
due to a poor classification of the entering students, so that 
boys and girls of great diversity of ability and previous prepara- 
tion were grouped in the same classes, given the same teaching 
and had the same demands made upon them. I pointed out that, 
under such circumstances, the pace was fitted to the medium 
pupil with the result that the more able boy and girl loafed and 
the least able were unable to keep the pace and failed of promo- 
tion. 

I recommended that the principals make every effort to classify 
the entering pupils into homogeneous groups on the basis of 
natural ability and training and then adapt the content methods 
and pace in each subject to the needs and possibilities of each 
group. 

In April 1919, in order to check up the efforts made by the 
principals to classify the entering pupils and by this' means 
reduce the percentage of failures, I sent the following letter to 
the principals of high schools: 



27 



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 
THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 
500 Park Avenue 

April 30, 1919. 
To the Principals of High Schools: 

In order to answer an inquiry of Superintendent Ettinger, will you 
kindly send us at your very earliest convenience an account of — 

(a) Any experiment you are making or have recently made in at- 
tempting to enroll children in sections according to their 
ability: 

(b) Efforts you have made to differentiate the work to meet the 
needs of the varying abilities of such sections: 

(c) The specific means you take "to help out the pupil who stum- 
bles, i. e., to discover the kink in the child's mind and iron it 
out by explanation." 

This last item represents the most vital process in education. I fear 
we have never in our high schools seriously grappled with the problem. 
As Mr. S. A. Courtis so aptly expresses it, "Teachers do not really see 
their pupils — that is, they do not see the child's mind at work and do not 
know the precise difficulty which causes the failure." Will you not ask 
each chairman to make this item the subject of the next departmental 
conference, namely: "What are the precise difficulties which cause pupils 
to fail in each of the subjects or divisions of subjects, included in the 
work of the department?" 

As a physician is expected to make an exact diagnosis of the condi- 
tions of the child in order to arrive at the cause of the abnormal condi- 
tion before prescribing the remedy, should not each teacher make a 
diagnosis of the cause of the failure of a pupil who recites to him? Should 
not the teacher know exactly why the pupil fails in algebra? Such as- 
signed reasons as poor preparations, want of application, want of gray 
matter, lack of interest, etc., are not the real reasons for the failure. Those 
are but generalizations. They do not indicate the real difficulty. 

As the first step in a movement for the study of the reasons why 
pupils fail in the various high school subjects, will you kindly direct 
each teacher of a first term algebra class to hand in at the close of the 
term a library card for each pupil who fails, on which he shall report 
his diagnosis of the causes of failure and general statements as those 
quoted above, not being accepted. On this card should appear the name 
of the high school, the name of the teacher, the name of the pupil, the 
rating and the reason for the failure. After these cards have been tabu- 

28 



lated by the chairman, will you please send a copy of the tabulation and 
the cards to this office. 

Teachers will find helpful suggestions in "The Teachers' Manual for 
Practice Tests in Arithmetic" by S. A. Courtis, Section III, or "Diag- 
nosis and Remedy of Individual Defects." 

Yours very truly, 

JOHN L. TILDSLEY, 
Associate Superintendent of Schools. 

Several thousand cards were sent in with summaries pre- 
pared by the heads of departments. As I had expected, the cards 
were of little value. The teachers showed they did not know 
why pupils failed. The head of department in one of our largest 
schools nullified the inquiry by furnishing the teachers a mimeo- 
graphed list of possible causes of failure, asking them to fill out 
cards in accordance with this outline of causes by checking from 
the list the probable cause, whereas I had expected each teacher 
to acquaint himself first with the pupils who were failing and 
then to study the papers of the pupil, his blackboard work, find 
out what errors he made and then seek the cause of these errors 
by means of observation and questioning of the pupil. On the 
cards submitted, I found practically no evidence of the applica- 
tion of such a process. The cards were based on preconceived 
notions of the teachers. It would have been most refreshing to 
find a single teacher who realized that poor teaching, failure to 
deal with the peculiar needs of the individual pupil, might have 
been the cause of failure. One of the most experienced heads of 
department in one of our largest high schools, expressed the fol- 
lowing conception of the function of the teacher: 

"I consider it beyond the function of a teacher to determine (in 
general) why Henry or Mary cannot or does not remember what 
occurred or was said ten minutes ago or last week. I hold that the 
teacher is in a position similar to that of the general medical prac- 
titioner and not that of a specialist. If the teacher can preserve 
order, knows his subjects, arranges his work properly, presents his 
subject matter so as to be comprehensible to minds of ordinary 
capacity, he is performing his function. It may be that a pupil's 
academic failure is due to a brain lesion, to a defective optic nerve 
or to dementia precox, but it is the function of the specialist and 
not of the teacher to determine and to 'iron out the kink'." 

29 



This point of view whether held consciously or unconsciously 
by some of our teachers is the chief cause of the failure of those 
teachers to teach the children. The teacher of a subject such as 
algebra is not a "general practitioner" but is or should be a spe- 
cialist. It should be his business to make a study of the failures 
of pupils and from knowledge of the various errors made by 
children he should be able to detect the probable cause of the 
failure of any given child to master a given operation. Until 
our teachers set themselves seriously to this task, they are but 
tyros, not really efficient teachers. I cannot condemn in too 
strong terms the attitude of this chairman of department. 

One of the most vital experiments in seeking to reduce fail- 
ures in high schools is that in supervised study carried on by 
Principal Paul of the DeWitt Clinton High School. May I offer 
a condensed report of the committee on supervised study of that 
school. 

Report of the Work of the Supervised Study Committee 
DeWitt Clinton High School 

May 2, 1920 

Supervised Study in the DeWitt Clinton High School has, 
now that the tumult and the shouting of war-time has died, 
begun to show some of the results that were anticipated by 
Dr. Paul at the time of its introduction in September, 1917. 
It has been saepe cadendo ; there has been no violent upheaval ; 
no change in the accustomed order of things, other than a length- 
ening of the period to fifty minutes, with a bell signaling the 
beginning of the second twenty-five minutes. Yet frequent dis- 
cussions, general and departmental, of the principles underlying 
'"Supervised Study," added to the work of the committee of de- 
partmental representatives, have done much to bring about a 
recognition of the all-important fact that the boy and not the 
class is the unit requiring to be taught. In a school where this 
attitude prevails, a distinct advance has been made towards the 
solution of present day educational problems. That the DeWitt 
Clinton High School throughout its eventful educational history, 
has always striven to recognize the needs of the individual pupil 
is, I believe, undeniable. But through the use of Supervised 



Study it has become possible and should become increasingly 
possible, to organize the methods whereby this recognition can 
be accomplished and the needs met. 

In reporting on the work of the Committee on Supervised 
Study the chairman will consider each term separately. During 
the first term questionnaires were prepared by the departmental 
representatives, each representative dealing with his own subject. 
These questionnaires were intended to be helpfully suggestive of 
methods of employing the supervised study period, as well as 
to obtain information relating to the possibilities of its use. 
The answers were compiled by the department representatives,, 
and used as the basis for departmental reports on the subject. 
These reports were in some cases discussed at department meet- 
ings ; in all cases they furnished material for consideration by 
the department chairman and by the Supervised Study Com- 
mittee. 

Though all these tabulations are to some extent encouraging,. 
the most significant from the chairman's point of view is the 
first term scholarship record. In the year preceding the intro- 
duction of Supervised Study the percentage of first term boys; 
passing in four subjects was 48.6 ; in 1919 it was 62.9, and im- 
provement of 12.3. It is generally admitted that the first term 
is the period that determines a high school entrant's attitude 
towards his school life ; the deduction that Supervised Study 
has done much for the DeWitt Clinton High School boy is 
therefore not unwarranted. 

A number of excerpts from the report of the sub-committee 
(Mr. Benjamin, chairman) on the adaptation of method to indi- 
vidual requirements, the chairman believes, are of especial inter- 
est and value. The first relates to work with dull boys : 

"In two. sections of first term pupils in English, most of 
whom are repeating their work, all but three have brought their 
work up to a passing standard, some with a grade of 80 at the 
mid-term. Aside from supplementary reading, no home work 
has been assigned to any boy in these sections." 

Criticism is sometimes directed towards Supervised Study 
methods on the ground that they take into account the laggards 
but fail to consider the leaders. The following instances fur- 
nish proof that such failure need not be inevitable. 



"Four classes of seniors in eight term English, aggregating 
140 pupils, were during the past year and a half prepared under 
this method for their state examination. Of that number only- 
one failed, many making excellent records. The study period 
in these classes was given the atmosphere of a literary work- 
shop, each student with a piece of work to do under the instruct- 
or's personal supervision." 

"In French, last September, the teacher reporting selected 
twelve bright boys in a second-term class to whom she assigned 
extra work for the study period. These boys succeeded in cov- 
ering the next term's work, took a special examination at the 
end of the term, and passed with an average grade of 80 per cent. 
All have held their own in the advanced grade, as the present 
mid-term records prove." 

The records of the representative of the sub-committee for the 
department of Biology present some significant items. This 
teacher finds the study periods especially useful as "make-up" 
periods for boys who have been absent. She makes a point of 
seating such boys beside the brighter pupils and enlisting the 
help of the latter. After three weeks absence a not paticularly 
capable boy was able to earn a grade of TO for the mid-term, 
owing to this arrangement. Not only returned absentees but 
weak students are given brighter boys for their neighbors. An 
improvement of 20 per cent (from 40 to 60) was recorded in the 
case of one boy recently assigned a seatmate chosen for his ex- 
cellence. Another point noted by the chairman during an inter- 
view with this teacher was the fact that while her average per- 
centage of failure in the school to which she had formerly be- 
longed was from 23 to 25 per cent, it had been for this mid- 
term between 18 and 19 per cent. She had reason to believe that 
the opportunity for supervision of study was largely accountable 
for the higher standard. 

The experiment of conducting third year Spanish classes 
without assigning any home-work whatever, has — not unex- 
pectedly — proved unsuccessful. The teacher reporting com- 
ments upon the inability to prevent the more conscientious stu- 
dents from continuing their preparation at home. The failure 
of so ambitious an experiment without previous preparation over 



a period of time, it seems to the chairman, was inevitable. While 
certain types of science and possibly of English work may 
wisely be conducted without home preparation, foreign languages, 
in their grammatical aspect, need more drill than a classroom 
under present conditions can provide for. The Literature lesson 
in French or Spanish can, the chairman believes, be completed 
in the classroom ; it might be well therefore to limit the experi- 
ment of conducting classes without home study to that part of 
the language work. 

One other comment made by the teacher reporting upon the 
experiment just referred to may be noted before this paper 
reaches its conclusion, "The experiment can be conducted with 
success," writes the experimenter, "if teachers had four classes 
a day, and a maximum of twenty-five pupils in each class." It 
is in no way an unfavorable criticism upon Supervised Study 
methods to say that they require favorable conditions as to staffing 
and equipment of schools to produce their best results. The 
dearest of all educational systems is a cheap educational system ; 
and Supervised Study is not to be regarded as cheap. At the 
beginning of this current term, however, the "eternal want of 
pence that vexes public men" — and public educationists most 
of all, affected the DeWitt Clinton High School to such an extent 
that the additional allowance of teachers furnished the school be- 
cause of its longer teaching period was withdrawn and almost 
all teachers found their programs heavier and their classes larger. 
Nevertheless, there is, I think, no. observer who will fail to note 
throughout the school, in spite of the teachers' added burdens, 
a high standard of teaching, and a conscientious effort on the 
part of teachers and pupils alike, to solve the problems of the 
classroom. That the "peaceful penetration" of the DeWitt Clin- 
ton High School by Supervised Study methods has in some 
measure contributed to the maintenance of this standard and the 
continuance of this effort is a point upon which the writer of 
this report has little doubt. 

Respectfully submitted, 

(Signed) MAUDE FRANK. 



Success in Reducing Failure of the High School of Commerce 

During the past two years the High School of Commerce has 
conducted a systematic campaign for the elimination of failure 
among first term pupils by means of the classification of pupils, 
the modification of methods and the creation of the will to suc- 
ceed. The following figures show the result of the efforts and 
seem to prove that the determination of the principal to elimi- 
nate failure is the most important element in solving the problem. 

1. In the Spring and Fall of 1917, subsequent to my taking charge of 
the High School of Commerce, I discussed with Mr. Israel Appell, who 
was in charge of the students' program in 46th Street annex, and with 
Mr. Hill, who was appointed as head of. the annex in September, 1917, a 
plan for grading boys who entered from the elementary schools, upon 
the basis of their ability to do high school work. These discussions 
were continued both in private and later on in committee throughout 
the year 1917-1918. Plans were finally formulated and the new system 
of grading was put -into operation in September, 1918. 

2. The plan as it developed was formulated so that boys who entered 
the High School of Commerce were organized into classes of approxi- 
mately forty, based upon neighborhood associations only. It was de- 
cided to disregard at the beginning the choice of language made by the 
boys in itheir applications, and to keep all of them in observation classes 
for a period of three weeks. 

During this period of three weeks, the boys were to be subjected to 
observation and to tests covering their ability to do the regular high 
school work in English, Mathematics, and Commercial Branches. In 
addition, the boys were to be subjected to tests designed to determine 
whether it would be profitable for them to take up and carry forward 
the study of a foreign language, Spanish or French. During the period 
of observation, the work was so organized that the pupils were not con- 
scious that the classroom work was designed to determine ultimately 
the grade into which they were to be put. 

In English, the classroom procedure followed the regular daily rou- 
tine, but numerous "Daily Tests" and Reviews of elementary school work 
were given. These "Daily Tests" and Reviews included tests designed 
to measure power in (a) oral composition, (b) letter writing, (c) read- 
ing, and (d) grammatical usage and punctuation. In the work in oral 
expression, the composition and reading of the boys was carefully 
watched to discover evidence of defective phonation. 

In Mathematics, ten uniform tests, seventy problems in all, were scat- 
tered through the three weeks, covering (a) operations in the lour funda- 
mentals of arithmetic, (b) decimals, (c) business fractions, and (d) sim- 
ple operations in percentage and interest. 

34 



In Commercial Branches, the tests were designed to discover the 
boys' understanding of the basic principles of mercantile accounts. 

In Foreign Language, the observation period was used for two pur- 
poses: (a) to discover evidence of language ability or lack of language 
ability; (b) to assist boys who were to take a foreign language to make 
proper choice between Spanish and French. The tests for language abil- 
ity covered: (a) review exercises to discover basic training in English 
vocabulary and English grammar; (b) aptitude tests, three in number 
(free association test, analogies, completion). 

3. As a result of our first experiment, at the end of the three weeks 
period, on Septembr 30th, 1918, the entire first term was reorganized into 
twenty sections: thirteen language sections, seven no-language sections. 
Three classes, one hundred and ten boys, were put into rapid advance- 
ment classes to cover two terms of English in one. Two groups, sixty- 
two boys, suffering from defective phonation, were put into classes for 
special exercises and drills. Six classes were put into rapid advancement 
classes in Mathematics. These boys were allowed to omit the major 
part of their study of Commercial Arithmetic, and were given work so 
that they could do work in Commercial Algebra at the end of the first 
term. 

4. Again in February, 1919, and at the beginning of the present term, 
September, 1919, the same plan was carried through with certain modi- 
fications based upon the results of our experience. Our method of hand- 
ling the situation in English and in Mathematics has not been essentially 
changed. Our method of handling the situation in Foreign Language, 
we have modified each time. Even now we are not satisfied with our 
system for testing to determine the boys' fitness or unfitness to take 
modern language, but we are determined to carry the experiment further 
because we believe that our basic proposition is sound. 

Instead of putting practically all of the boys who enter high school 
into foreign language work, for the past three terms our beginners have 
been divided as follows: 

Between 65 and 70% are taking a foreign language. 
Between 30 and 35% are taking work in General Science. 

The boys and parents seem to be contented, and the teachers are firm 
in the belief that a division of this sort is decidedly worth while. 

5. That the formation of the Rapid Advancement Groups was valid 
each term seems to be proved by a comparison of records of these Rapid 
Advancement sections with the other sections in the first term. In the 
term beginning September, 1918, we had eight Rapid Advancement sec- 
tions. After the mid-term examinations, we made a comparative study 
of the standing of our twenty first term sections, and we found that our 
eight Rapid Advancement sections held the following ranks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 
5, 6, 13, 16. 

35 



In February, 1919, we again had eight Rapid Advancement sections, 
and they held the following places: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13. 

This term, owing to the opening of the 89th street annex, we aband- 
oned partially the scheme of grading our first term pupils. The ten sec- 
tions in 89th street were not organized upon a basis of any other test 
than the ability in foreign language. 

The ten sections in 46th street were organized under the old scheme. 
In that annex we had four Rapid Advancement sections out of ten. After 
the mid-term examinations, these four Rapid Advancement classes held 
the following ranks: 1, 2, 3, 4. 

If additional evidence were necessary to prove that the scheme has 
been working for the benefit of the boy and the city, the following statis- 
tics might be submitted as proof: 

MID-TERM RESULTS (Daily and Examination Marks) 

Register No. of Boys 

Term Ending Passing All Subjects Percent Passing 

January, 1918 961 268 27 

Tune, 1918 1095 299 27 

January, 1919 1062 436 41 

June, 1919 1092 454 41 

January, 1920 949 469 49— 46 st. 

January, 1920 411 167 41— 89 st. 

In studying this table, it is to be remembered that the first two terms 
noted were terms before our method of grading first term pupils was in 
operation. The last three terms are terms during which the method has 
been in use. 

(Signed) ARTHUR M. WOLFSON, Principal. 

The following summary of experiments with intelligence 
tests as a basis for the classification of pupils has been prepared 
by Director Wilkins. 



Failure of First-Term Pupils 
Intelligence and Prognosis Tests 

The past year considerable attention has been given in this 
Division to the very important matter of intelligence prognosis. 
High school principals were requested, during the school year of 
1918-1919, to have their several heads of departments make a 
careful study of the causes of failure in first-term classes, and 
to make suggestions for the reduction in the number of failures. 

36 



in the work of this class of pupils. In the following paragraphs 
will be found brief mention of studies made and of suggestions 
offered. 

But the outstanding feature in such analyses as have been 
made, and in the attitude of principals and teachers is the real- 
ization of the need of scientific investigation of the abilities of 
these young students. Only by the measurement of ability can 
classification of students be properly effected. Scientific classi- 
fication is the first step towards the fitting of the work of the 
curriculum to the abilities and needs of students. Once such a 
classification is made, we can hope to reduce in a marked degree, 
the "mortality" in first and second-term classes and hence, indi- 
rectly, in the latter terms of the course. 

Dr. J. Carleton Bell, of the Brooklyn Training School for 
Teachers has expressed well the purpose of standard tests, in 
these words : 

"More important than class diagnosis is the determination 
of the abilities and deficiencies of individual pupils. Here the 
use of standard tests serves as a guide to that individualization 
of instruction which is so devoutly to be wished but so seldom 
attained. Just as the physician by the means of clinical tests 
diagnoses the ailment of his patient and plans his treatment ac- 
cordingly, so the teacher should diagnose her pupils and plan 
her school work according to their needs. When such individual 
diagnosis and treatment is systematically carried out in our 
schools the efficiency of instruction will be increased by from 
fifty to one hundred per cent, and the strain on the teacher will 
be reduced by half." 

On January 5th, 1920, I sent the following circular letter to 
high school principals : 

"You have doubtless been making a study in your school 
during the past term of the causes of failure among first term 
pupils. Some of you have given intelligence and predetermina- 
tion tests to these pupils. 

From these studies and tests I hope you have arrived at some 
tentative conclusions that may prove of value to all our high 
schools. 



I desire to have this information in shape to present to all 
principals and teachers at the earliest possible moment so that 
we may profit thereby in the coming term. Probably the best 
way to put this before them would be to publish these observa- 
tions and conclusions in the February Bulletin of High Points. 

Will you not, therefore, send me, for this purpose, what 
material you may have on hand, mailing it so as to reach me on 
or before January 23?" 

Considerable material was submitted in response to this re- 
quest. Much of it has been printed in the Bulletin of High 
Points in the Work of the High Schools of New York City 
issued by this Division. "The Evolution of Tests and Measure- 
ments for Our First-Term Pupils," a symposium of articles by 
several principals, appeared in the February number ; "A Test 
of High School Entrants in the Fundamentals of Arithmetic," 
a study made by Mr. Alfred Duschatko, of the High School of 
Commerce, was printed in the issue for March ; and "A Report 
on First-Term Classes Graded by Otis Intelligence Tests," by 
Principal Horace M. Snyder, of the Manual Training High 
School," and "The Otis Intelligence Test," by Miss Alice S. 
Butler, of the Theodore Roosevelt High School, appeared in 
the April number. 

The New York Society for the Experimental Study of Edu- 
cation has given much attention the past year to the study of 
abilities of high school students and to their classification ac- 
cording to records made in predetermination tests. The Feb- 
ruary meeting and Bulletin of this Society were devoted to 
modern language problems, and those for May were given over 
to the consideration of high school classification by intelligence 
tests. 

In short, serious effort is being made in several directions 
and by different organizations and individuals to arrive at a 
practicable adaptation and use of tests for our students. The 
Otis Tests, the Courtis tests, those of Professor Briggs, and, 
in modern languages, those devised by Mr. W T ilkins, are some of 
those that have been tried out in various schools. Improvement 
in the mode of application of these tests, in the details of some 
of the tests themselves, and, especially, in interpretation of the 
results obtained is being sought. 



The mass of detail submitted by the principals is so great 
that it would make a book. I therefore submit a portion of the 
report of Dr. Paul of DeWitt Clinton High School as typical : 

"With the purpose of finding a means of grading pupils 
according to their mental abilities, the Otis General Intelligence 
Test A was administered on September 9, 1919, to students 
entering the DeWitt Clinton High School. Eight hundred and 
sixty-five pupils, all of whom had completed the elementary 
school course in public, private or parochial schools were exam- 
ined. A large majority had been graduated from the New York 
City public schools in June, 1919. The entering class was di- 
vided into three main groups, the grouping being determined 
by the pupil's choice of a foreign language : 1st, Latin ; 2nd, 
French ; 3rd, Spanish. The Latin and French groups were as- 
signed to the 87th Street Annex, and the Spanish group to the 
52nd Street Annex. The tests were taken in the annexes. For- 
merly, first term classes were formed into sections upon the basis 
of records made in the elementary schools, but these groupings 
were unsatisfactory, first, because an appreciable percentage of 
students enter from outside the public school system and sec- 
ondly, because the records upon the estimate blanks of the public 
school graduate do not reveal qualitative differences to the 
degree necessary to guide the supervisor in his task of separating 
scholars. Schools, again, vary greatly in their standards. The 
following distribution was found among two hundred and fifty- 
one records of the scholarship of boys selecting Spanish : 



A A 


A B- 


B- A 


B- B- 


B- B 


B B- 


B B 


Tota 


20 


6 


1 


54 


14 


6 


150 


251 



Thus 60 per cent of the pupils entering one annex from the pub- 
lic schools were graded B B. If a principal endeavored to form 
his section upon records like the above, the slight variation be- 
tween A B- and B- A, and between B- B and B B-, and the 
presence of 150 B B pupils among whom, on the records no 
differences exist, he would be confronted with a situation simi- 
lar to what the military strategists call an impasse. 

"Not only was it our purpose to test a method of classification, 
we had the further aims, to discover the specific elements of 
strength and weakness in our pupils, to find if we could not derive 



from our experience worthwhile deductions for school manage- 
ment and class-room method, deductions that would point out 
improved practices in our handling of the sub-average boy. 
General intelligence results had been used to determine efficiency 
standards in the army, educational experts had spoken in praise 
of them, hence our attitude toward the general intelligence test, 
was one of open-minded inquisitiveness. 

"The 'Otis General Test A' is contained in a booklet upon 
which the examinee answers his questions. There are ten divi- 
sions to the test of which the following table is a compact 
analysis : 

1. Following directions imposed by questions about the alphabet. 
Example. Write the letter which is the third letter to the right of the 
letter which is midway between K and O. 20 questions; time limit five 
minutes. 

2. Finding opposites. Example. Genuine or (coarse, counterfeit, 
adulterated, worthless, impure). Pupil to underline the word of opposite 
meaning. 25 questions; time limit \ l / 2 minutes. 

3. Disarranged sentences to be re-arranged, truth or falsity of new 
sentence asserted. Example. Float iron water on will. 25 questions; 
time limit \y 2 minutes. 

4. Proverbs stated, and restated in different phrases, the work of the 
examinee be'ng to find similar truth stated in different language. 

Examples: 

In a calm sea every man is a pilot. 
Rats desert sinking slvps. 
False friends flee from us in disaster. 
Leadership is easy when all goes well. 
20 questions; time limit 6 minutes. 

5. Arithmetic examples of a simple nature, most of which can be 
solved mentally. 20 questions; time limit 6 minutes. 

6. Geometric Figures. A triangle, circle and square being superim- 
posed. Questions relating to relative positions of numbers and figures 
are asked. 20 questions; time limit 6 minutes. 

7. Analogies. Example. Hat; head — thimble; (finger, needle, thread, 
handsewing.) Examinee to underline correct word. 25 questions; time 
limit 3 minutes. 

8. Similarities. Example. Red, white, green (rose, paper, gross, 

soft, blue). Pupil must underscore word in classification similar to first 
three. 20 questions; time limit 4 minutes. 

40 



9. Narrative Completion. Pupil in this test must fill in blanks that 
break the continuity of the story. 25 questions; time limit 6 minutes. 

10. Memory. The memory test requires the examiner to read a story, 
to the reading of which the pupils listen. When the story has been read, 
the scholars must answer questions based upon the narration. Number 

of questions 30; time limit 3 minutes. 

« 

"There is a total of 230 questions, each question counting one 
point. 

"In the 52nd Street Annex, the examination was conducted in 
one large room by an examiner-in-chief assisted by proctors as- 
signed in the ratio of one to every thirty students. Two teach- 
ers had no duty other than to time the tests. In the 87th Street 
Annex, absence of a general auditorium and the presence of a 
large number of students made impossible having one examina- 
tion. Each teacher, therefore, conducted the examination in his 
or her official class. Conferences, designed to make uniform 
procedure, were held prior to the giving of the test. In both 
annexes sedulous care was taken to obey the printed instructions 
contained in the booklet of information issued by the authors. 
In rating the competitors' books, one teacher was assigned to 
mark one question for the whole group. Sections were formed 
upon the actual score made upon tests, not upon the intelligence 
quotient. 

"In order to aid the study of correlation between the Otis test 
results and those attained in high school rating the following 
card was devised by Mr. Harry Penhollow: 



to 








From P. S 


Rating". ......... 


Sec. No. Sec. No. 






Name 








Residence 




OTIS TEST 


Date of Birth 




1—100 




(year) (month) 


'(day) 


2—100 




SCHOOL RECORD 




3— 80 




Subject |lstmo. 


2d mo. 


Daily 


Exam. 


4th m. | Final 1 


4— 70 




English 


90 


95 








1 


5— 60 




Language 


60 


60 










6— 40 




Math. 


75 


85 








| 


7— 70 




Science 


80 


80 










8— 




Drawing 














9— 




Civics 














10— 




Absent 












Total 




1 



The details of the formation of groups and the correlation of 
term and examination ratings are too voluminous to insert in 



this report. They have already been printed in the Bulletin of 
High Points. Allow me to cite the following conclusions of 
Principal Paul, based on the experience of one term's grouping 
based on the Otis tests. 

He states that the outstanding result of our experience is that 
the General Intelligence Examination provides a very reliable 
method of grouping according to pupils' mental ability. 

"Some pupils in Group 1 fail, while some in Group IV suc- 
ceed in passing all their subjects. The leaders in the general 
intelligence scores have been among the school leaders but not 
during any month has the first, second or third student of either 
of our Spanish Groups ranked 1, 2, 3, in our school record. Other 
factors, personality of official teacher, absence, amount of sleep, 
presence of congenial home conditions for study enter as variants 
to negative certain prophecy of success or failure. Every pupil 
has at least a 'sporting chance.' Proof that the teacher, who 
looks upon the low group as hopeless, fails to realize an oppor- 
tunity to raise boys and girls up and show them how to go, is 
submitted by presentation of a few individual cases deviating 
from normal. 

"Case A: Large negro boy age 17 entered from Panama 
(Central America), worked for one year previous to entering 
school. He scored 99 (very low) in G. I. Test, but passed every 
subject with a rating above 80. Pupil stated that strangeness 
of new surrounding militated against success in the Otis test. 
Pupil's high mark in Spanish may be attributed to residence in 
Panama. 

"Case B: Pupil's age 15. G. I. course 95 (low). Passed all 
subjects — average 70. Boy highly nervous and timid. Parents 
speak only foreign language at home. Pupil was very faithful 
in performance of home work. Explanation of deviation lies 
no doubt in pupil's timidity and in severity of time limits of 
test. 

"Case C: Pupil's age 15. G. I. score 95. Passed all subjects, 
average 68%. Boy was very industrious, conspicuously loyal 
to school, very good in conduct, anxious to advance. Of poor 
mental endowment, he succeeded through hard work. 



"Case D: Pupil's age 14. G. I. score 126 (slightly above 
median, fell low in second group) yet he was among 10 leaders 
every month in school rating. Pupil testified that he does not 
as a rule have to study hard to get along in school. In his own 
phrase he was not "right" on day of examination. 

"Case E: Pupil's age 14. G. I. score 166 (very high). His 
record of scholarship, however, was mediocre, failed mathe- 
matics, averages of all subjects 64%. Pupil was careless, indif- 
ferent, was reported for disorder several times during the term. 

"CaseF: Pupil's age 14. G. I. score 165 (very high). Schol- 
arship record poor, failed two major subjects. Very weak in 
mathematics, although he scored high in mathematic units on 
test. Pupil tries hard and is studious. No explanation of devia- 
tion can be offered at present. It is expected that further study 
of the case will throw light upon the problem. 

"Case G: Pupil's age 14. G. I. test 149 (high group I). 
Scholarship record poor (30%) in Spanish, (50 in Biology — * 
average 55%). Pupil was lazy, "sporty" had many outside 
interests. Influence of parents upon the boy is very weak. 

"In addition to the pre-eminent effect of providing means for 
isolating groups, very positive lessons affecting school manage- 
ment and class room method can be learned from our experience 
with the General Intelligence Test. Under school management 
we conclude. 

"1. That pupils of the lowest groups, save a few exceptions,, 
cannot follow the regular course or pass examinations designed 
to test pupils for promotion. Provision should be made to have 
the sub average division cover two terms in one and one-half 
years. 

"2. Conversely, courses of study, teacher plans, etc., should 
be enriched to enable the brightest pupils to gain the maximum 
of intellectual, volitional and emotional training from their high 
school course. It is far from the intention of this conclusion 
to encourage haste to get through secondary education, to have 
the student, for instance, make three terms in one year. Rather 
it is the purpose to broaden pupils under enriched treatment of 
subject matter. 

43 



"3. So great is the usual disparity between the capacity of 
a 180 and 100 G. I. pupil that assurance is born of the ability 
of the former to complete the entire secondary course in three 
years. Whether the procedure indicated under 2 is recom- 
mended by school authority or permission to "double" and 
"skip" granted, should be determined by such factors as age 
of the pupil, economic condition, physical condition and plans 
for future. 

"4. That the lowest groups would benefit greatly by a course 
in the fundamentals of arithmetic, English and Civics is our 
firm conviction. This course should be of 5 periods. In order 
to make room for it one subject, preferably the foreign language, 
should be dropped. Inasmuch as the aim of the course should 
not alone be the acquisition of fundamental bodies of knowledge 
but should also be to inculcate useful habits of thought and 
method, it should be taught by one strong teacher who is thus 
given time enough to study the peculiarities of his pupils and to 
teach them useful subject matter. Confidence in the efficacy of 
such a course arises from the fact that many students fail in 
both general intelligence score and in school work because of 
poor preparation. Marked discrepancies in the abilities of 
scholars appear although all of them possess diplomas of grad- 
uation from elementary schools. Pupils who hear only a foreign 
language spoken at home would also be helped materially. 

"5. Promotion and demotion between groups is recommended 
after close examination into each case. A monthly report card 
is an indispensable aid to guide decision. Not too much reliance 
can be placed upon the first month's marks, for neither can the 
teacher have obtained a true estimate of his pupil's abilities nor 
the student have familiarized himself with new environment, 
within the passing of one month. A far safer guide to intersec- 
tion promotion is the second report. Yet, even then, careful 
following up of cases must be instituted, else pupils will be 
placed in a grade whose rate of progress is beyond their speed. 
We promoted five boys from Class 1-5 to 1-1 with not altogether 
happy results ; the promoted ones found the new class too diffi- 
cult, and at least three of them would have done better if left 
alone. 



"6. Studies should be made to determine individual strength 
and weakness. Such studies divide into two classes whose pur- 
pose is first to disclose cause of failure arising from the emo- 
tional and volitional characteristics required by the subject. 
Cursory examination of the eccentric cases cited above reveals 
two major groups, the brilliant non-industrious boy, who fails 
through moral laxity ; and the hard working dull boy who 
succeeds through faithful performance of duty. The second 
purpose of such study as is here recommended is to discover 
cause of failure due to intellectual weakness. Parts of the Gen- 
eral Intelligence test require mathematical ability, other parts 
knowledge of English. Judgment and memory are tested. Most 
pupils' books will disclose idiosyncrasies to the patient investi- 
gator, enlightening him regarding the pupil's shortcomings and 
pointing to remedial treatment. 

"7. Continual experiments with a uniform scale with com- 
pilation of correlative standing in school subjects should provide 
an objective norm to guide the rating of students. It may be 
found, after many comparisons that a group within the limits 
of 180- 150- G. I. scores should pass 95% of its Spanish I stu- 
dents. Upon our slender experience no specific norms are 
predicated. Nor do we desire ever to recommend absolute 
norms. A scale, however, would be useful as a general guide 
and would do much to stabilize variations that arose from un- 
controlled individual marking. 

"Thorough physical examination of the sub-average group is a 
necessity so obvious to need no further comment. 

"Despite the values indicated in the foregoing analysis, the 
General Intelligence test as a procedure functioning in the iso- 
lation of groups and as a controller of the managerial policy of 
the school will have little in its influence unless the class room 
teacher is hospitable to the new duties its acceptance creates. 
New plans, special attacks for special groups, a multiplication 
of new tasks devolves upon the teacher. Although the majority 
of the instructors in the DeWitt Clinton High School Annexes, 
favored using the general intelligence' tests to separate groups, 
a minority was opposed. There is strength in the arguments 
of the opposition. They state that there is, despite the most 

45 



skillful teaching, a lack of enthusiasm, of motive, of definite aim 
in the lowest groups. Models of high class pupil performance 
are absent. A dull, dead level of inferiority it is claimed hangs 
like a pall over these sections. Incompetence seems to be con- 
tagious. With a course of study beyond the capacity of the 
low groups, this is undoubtedly true, but if lessons were better 
adapted to the capabilities of the learner, motive, aim, purpose 
would be generated from confidence and power. If the lowest 
thirty boys were distributed among five sections, the six in each 
new room would find themselves hopelessly outclassed. A 71 
G. I. boy may be fascinated by the recitation of a 189 G. I. boy, 
but it is a violation of all we know of the law of apperception in 
teaching to expect the 71 pupil to approximate the quality of 
work produced by the 189 scholar. Too frequently in ungraded 
classes, lessons depend so exclusively upon the recitation of 
six or seven conspicuous pupils that the sub-average boy never 
gets a. chance to exercise his self-activity, poor and weak as its 
expression may be. The low boy is a spectator, not a performer. 
Furthermore, perusal of former tabulations of both general 
intelligence and school records discloses diversities within each 
group of degree sufficient to permit the best pupils in the single 
sections to produce models of recitation which evoke not only 
the admiration but the emulation of his less fortunately endowed 
schoolmate. 

"Opposition urges further that the impossibility of instituting 
emulative competition between different classes of the first grade 
in high school is a serious charge against organizing schools into 
groups. Many teachers have stimulated their classes into im- 
proved energy by posting class averages, by holding matches 
between classes, and by various other competitive devices. 
While contests of this sort do not appeal to the highest ideal of 
learning, sane pedagogy, since teaching deals with distinctly 
human material, pays tribute to these harmless adventitious aids 
to education. The lowest groups are doomed automatically to 
last place in these contests for it follows, pari passu, that the 
inferior worker cannot equal the quality of work of his superior. 
The charge is not without weight, yet, if. as we think, superior 
methodology and management result from division into groups 
there is a counterbalance to the loss from competition. Again. 



there can be no objection to matching the highest two of differ- 
ent groups or the lowest two. In assembly recitations, the low- 
est groups need not be prevented from putting on a class play or 
a class song. In athletic tournaments very frequently winners 
will be found among the sub-average sections and their athletic 
victories in these days of elevation of physical prowess, will count 
with the student body as weightily as intellectual distinction. 

"Specific criticisms against the Otis test were levelled by some 
teachers. The time limits are so oppressive in some of the divi- 
sions that they handicap the calm cool worker who reflects Bur- 
rough's phrase 

I stay my haste, I make delays 
For what avails this eager pace. 

and favor the rapid, easy, fluent, producer. There is no difference 
in rating in nine out of ten divisions between a pupil who scores 
for example 12 out of 12 correct and one who scores 12 out of 15. 

"Elements of bad grading are noticeable in the test, the geom- 
etry division is far more difficult than the others. Proof of this 
is derived not only from study of grades made by the pupils 
but also from testimony of teachers who took the test. Adverse 
testimony was outweighed by favorable report. 

"Under class room method the following considerations are 
submitted. Close study by teachers of the sub-average group 
does not reveal any particular mental deficiency. That is, pupils 
are not noticeably weak in apperceptive, retentive or ratiocina- 
tive powers but intellectual mediocrity is general. Specific con- 
structive recommendations, derived from class room experience 
are, however, advanced for teaching the lowest groups. 

"1. Teaching should be largely objective. Drawings to illus- 
trate mathematical abstractions. Specimens, experiments, ex- 
cursions, handling of material are necessary to vitalize biological 
and scientific law. 

"2. Abstract power can be cultivated only after painstaking 
effort along the line of development from the simple to the com- 
plex. Simple power questions should be answered first and upon 
them more difficult questions and tasks built. 



"3. The tempo of the lesson must be slow. In a superlative 
degree, Jacotots' maxim that "Repetition is the mother of 
studies" applies to the sub-average group. The art of the teacher 
consists in disguising repetitions so that in Strayer's phrase her 
"Review is a new view." 

"4. Study of the individual is imperative. Quiet, confiden- 
tial conference between pupil and teacher is a very effective 
practice. 

"5. The supervised study period offers a very efficacious 
means of reaching the individual pupil. 

"There is nothing exceptional in the foregoing recommenda- 
tions either of method or management. The necessity of good 
management and method with the sub-calibre group is supreme 
and compelling. The General Intelligence test does not provide 
an educational philosopher's stone that will transmute the dross 
of ignorance into the gold of learning, but as a directive inform- 
ing procedure, it is worthy of continued experiment. All of our 
conclusions are tentative. We await results of close following 
up through several terms before venturing final decision upon 
the worth and practicality of continuing the test." 

Dr. Paul's further conclusions are stated thus : 

"In referring to you the report of our experiment in the Otis 
General Intelligence Test during the past year, I beg to call 
your attention to the following matters in connection with our 
experience with this particular report : 

"1. Our teachers find that by using the Otis Tests they 
arrive at greater accuracy in grouping pupils according to ability 
than was the case when they depended upon the records of 
pupils successes in elementary schools. 

"2. I wish especially to call your attention to the card out- 
lined. It serves the exceedingly practical purpose of enabling 
us to establish relations between the Otis test and the school 
records, both in elementary and in high schools. 

"3. I wish especially to call your attention to the discussion 
concerning the experience we have had in using the Otis Tests 
to group pupils according to language ability. 

48 



"4. I urge attentive study of the interesting individual cases. 
These cases bring out clearly, it seems to me : (a) the influences 
of environment; (b) the effects of physical and mental condi- 
tions upon the pupil taking the test; (c) the way in which the 
tests can be used to determine the quality of the work a boy is 
doing and whether or not he is achieving results of which he is 
capable. I have in mind the light these cases throw upon the 
industrious boy low in the G. I. test, but high in school rating, 
and the careless lazy boy, high in the G. I. test but low in school 
rating. 

"5. I wish to lay special stress upon the suggestions for class 
management and methods of teaching that come out strongly 
as a result of our experience with the Otis Tests : (a) the neces- 
sity for providing a slow case of progress for some pupils and 
a more intensive treatment of subject matter for others; (b) 
a new emphasis on the technique on individual instruction ; (c) 
the desirability of elasticity of transfer of pupils from group 
to group; (d) the necessity of care in following up pupils who 
receive special promotions; (e) the need for 'make up' courses 
in the fundamentals of English and Arithmetic for our slowest 
group ; (f ) the advisability of thorough physical examination 
of pupils who rate low in the G. I. tests; these examinations 
should be given not only for the purpose of determining physical 
defects that may account for their detardation mentally, but 
also for the purpose of securing measures for the improvement 
of such conditions ; to be of any value such physical examinations 
and such steps for improvement should occur at the beginning 
of the term. 

"6. I wish to call especial attention to the fact that our 
experience with the Otis Tests has yielded us direct evidence 
that pupils are encouraged to do better work when through 
groups based on these tests they are placed in competition 
with other pupils of approximately equal attainments. We have 
found that when the range of ability in a class is narrow, prog- 
ress for the class and for the individual is more marked than 
when the class is made up of abilities ranging over a greater 
area. We have very interesting graphs drawn to illustrate this 
evidence as a result of experience in one of our annexes. While 



these graphs do not permit of ready duplication, and you may 
not be able to avail yourself to them for your report, I shall be 
pleased to see that you receive them should you evince a desire 
to have them sent to you." 

Principal Janes reports his conclusions which are at vari- 
ance with those of Principal Paul, as follows : 

"In my opinion the division of a first term class on the basis 
of results in Intelligence Tests is not grounded upon sound 
principles. Boys just entering high school find difficulty in ad- 
justing themselves to new surroundings and requirements, and 
therefore may well postpone every attempt to save time until 
they have become accustomed to the high school environment. 
It is easy enough to speed up when they have thus established 
themselves and have shown by experience an. ability to take and 
assimilate more than their fellows. This can be accomplished 
by doubling, by summer work, by anticipation, by carrying more 
than the normal load — all under proper restrictions. In these 
ways, as a matter of fact, twenty-eight per cent of Boys High 
School pupils graduate in less than four years. The Intelligence 
Tests may serve well a valuable purpose if used to discover the 
bent of the child's mind, to aid in deciding what course he should 
pursue, but for speed purposes, it is not only valueless but posi- 
tively harmful. If it is wise to allow any boys to advance rap- 
idly, let the opportunity be restricted to those who have shown 
proper ability by actual classroom test. However, I feel by no 
means sure that even the strong boy thus discovered gains as 
much in the long run by speeding as he would if he took more 
time for assimilation, contemplation and reflection. The city 
boy has so many impressions made upon his mind, experiences 
so many thrills, lives so fast a life mentally, has so little time or 
opportunity for reflection that he tends to become shallow and 
superficial, to be satisfied with a surface knowledge, to lack sin- 
cerity. Rapid advancement aids in this unfortunate tendency, 
and should be encouraged only when circumstances make no 
other course feasible." 

It should be said in reply to Principal Janes that rapid ad- 
vancement of pupils is not the purpose of classification of pupils 
based on Intelligence Tests but rather the formation of horao- 

50 



geneous groups, each group to be subjected to different methods 
of teaching, each to have its own pace and rate of progress 
through the school so far as is possible under our conditions. 
Although the opinions of principals differ, I believe that every 
principal should aim to arrive at some system of classifying first 
term pupils on the basis of ability to do work and adjust condi- 
tions to fit each group. 

Prognosis Tests in Modern Languages 

It has been the conviction of many of us who have made a 
close study of modern language work that the City is wasting a 
large amount of money and allowing many pupils to waste their 
time and develop a demoralizing habit of failure by permitting 
boys and girls to study foreign languages who are unfit for such 
study. An attempt has been made in certain high schools this 
past year to sift out such pupils by means of tests devised by 
Professor Briggs of Teachers' College. Mr. Wilkins, Direc- 
tor of Modern Languages, is. also at work devising tests for 
modern language ability. We have every reason to believe that 
within the year we shall have at our disposal tests for modern 
language ability which shall make it possible for us to eliminate 
at the start those pupils who are clearly unfitted for the acqui- 
sition of a foreign language. Such pupils can be directed to 
subjects which they can pursue with profit and thus be saved 
from failure and the teachers of modern languages may direct 
their efforts to those pupils who are fitted for this work and so 
cause those pupils to progress much more rapidly than has been 
possible when the teacher must spend his best energies in trying 
to save from failure the few unfit. 

This subject has been fully discussed in the report of Mr. 
Lawrence A. Wilkins, Director of Modern Languages in High 
Schools, which accompanies this report. For the character of 
the tests, the results and conclusions to be drawn, I refer you 
to that report. 

For some four years, most of the subjects in the high schools 
have been elective. This has made it possible for each pupil 
to choose the work best suited to his ability and best adapted 
to train him for the particular calling he is preparing himself to 



follow. Yet habit, and the need of meeting college entrance 
requirements are still causing many pupils to elect subjects for 
whose study they are unfitted. 

I would recommend that every principal make a study of 
the various predetermination tests which have been devised, or 
else ask one of his teachers to make such study and then apply 
such tests as have been shown to be valid as an aid to the proper 
classification of his pupils and their enrollment in the various 
subjects of study. 



Adaptation of Curriculum to Vocational Needs 

Serious efforts have been made this past year to enrich the 
course of study in our high schools and to adapt them to the 
specific vocational needs of the pupils. The Julia Richman High 
School has made its subjects largely elective on a group basis 
so that no girl shall be compelled to take all of the so-called 
commercial subjects but may choose her subjects so as to pre- 
pare herself for accountancy, for secretarial work or for sales- 
manship, concentrating on the subjects which contribute to the 
best preparation for each of these lines of work, but at the same 
time being compelled to secure a good general training and 
especially a training in citizenship through the compulsory study 
of English, American History, Civics and Economics. Realizing 
that many students who enter our high schools will not remain 
for the entire course and that this is especially true of those 
pupils who chose the commercial course, beginning February 
last, we established a one year unit course for commercial stu- 
dents which had been recommended by a committee of commer- 
cial teachers. This course includes typewriting and accounts in 
the first term and omits modern language. It aims to give the 
boy or girl who can study in the high schools but a year or a 
term a training which shall immediately and directly function in 
the job he takes on leaving school. 

Another committee of teachers is at work on similar unit 
courses for the second and third years of the commercial course 
which shall differentiate the training along the lines of the course 
of study adopted by the Julia Richman High School. 



Manual Training High School added last year a technical 
course for boys which gives a general training along technical 
lines in the first two years and then allows the student to con- 
centrate the majority of his work in certain distinct fields as 
industrial chemistry, shop practice and management and sur- 
veying. 

This course will not only prepare a boy for schools of engi- 
neering of all kinds but will fit him upon graduation for entrance, 
without further study upon such occupations as building, sur- 
veying, electrical installation, etc. Hitherto we have lagged 
behind other cities of the country in that we have not had a 
strictly technical school of high school grade for boys. The 
adoption of this new course fills a long felt want and will not 
Only make possible a better preparation for our boys for engi- 
neering but also furnish an increasing number of young men 
so sorely needed in our industries to prepare for the positions 
of foremen and managers. This new course calls for at least ten 
hours a week of shop work . throughout the course. Manual 
Training High School has not sufficient shops to carry this 
course after this year. Your Board has asked for an appropria- 
tion of $400,000 for an addition to the Manual Training' High 
School in order to supply the shops needed. Unless this appro- 
priation can be secured and the necessary shops erected, the 
course cannot be continued as planned and our schools will not 
be discharging their duty to the industries of this city of fur- 
nishing them with a constantly increasing supply of technically 
trained young men who are so greatly needed. I would there- 
fore recommend that your Board impress upon the Board of 
Estimate the urgent need of this appropriation. 

If this appropriation cannot be obtained I strongly urge that 
space be acquired in a loft building in which to house the first 
year of the technical course. Some 30,000 feet of space has been 
offered at a price of $.70 per foot. The cost of equipping these 
floors would be about $60,000. Without the provision of at least 
this additional accommodation the new technical course must 
soon be abandoned. I therefore urge that the Board of Educa- 
tion should ask the Board of Estimate to supply the necessary 
funds for this purpose. 

53 



Elementary General Science 

In the belief that most boys and girls are desirous of under- 
standing the workings of the every day phenomena which are 
all about them, we have introduced this past year in our high 
schools a course in elementary general science. A committee 
of teachers, with Mr. Edgar A. Bedford as chairman, has drawn 
up a tentative syllabus which is being tried out in several of the 
high schools as a first year elective subject. 

Red Cross Home Nursing Course 

During the term beginning February 1, 1919, through the 
generosity of the New York County Chapter, the Brooklyn 
Chapter, and the Queens County Chapter of the American Red 
Cross, most valuable courses in home nursing have been offered 
in some of the girls high schools. The nurses, all of them 
women, of the highest training and broad experience in nursing, 
have been selected and paid by the Chapters mentioned. The 
equipment was to have been supplied by our Board of Education, 
but due to delays in the Department of Supplies in some cases 
the needed supplies were not furnished in time for the work so 
the Red Cross Chapters loaned equipment in addition to fur- 
nishing the nurses. 

The nurses recommended by the Red Cross were given sub- 
stitute licenses by the Superintendent of Schools. The work in 
nursing, one and one-half hours per week, was given as a sub- 
stitute for the hygiene work for one period of physical training 
for the girls taking the course, so no additional burden was laid 
upon the girls. The entire time of one nurse each was given in 
Morris, Wadleigh, Washington Irving, Julia Richman, Girls, 
Bay Ridge, Manual Training and Erasmus Hall High Schools. 
One nurse divided her time between the high schools in Queens. 
The number of girls taking the course was as follows : 

Morris 60 Nurse, Edith Read 

Wadleigh 200 Nurse, Mrs. Trotter 

Julia Richman 340 No nurse 

Washington Irving 100 Miss McArthur, Nurse 

Bay Ridge 150 Miss Bessie Donaldson 

Queens 10 Mrs. Wilson 

54 



The following outline of work as given by Mrs. Wilson in 
the Queens schools is typical : 

"The course is practically the same as that given to probationers in 
the hospital training schools, although naturally the practice of daily 
ward duty in following up the demonstrations is lacking." 

The outline of the work given by Mrs. Wilson, Nursing Su- 
pervisor of the Queens County Chapter of the American Reel 
Cross, to the pupils of Jamaica High School, is as follows : 

1st: A simple lesson on germs, their divisions, growth and the causes 
of spread of disease. 

2nd: Health and home hygiene. Lighting, cleanliness, care of gar- 
bage, icebox and kitchen and personal cleanliness, care of the mouth and 
teeth and prevention of insects, pasteurizing milk. 

3rd: Babies and young children and their care. Feeding and bathing, 
with demonstration. 

4th: Indication of sickness, subjective and objective symptoms, tem- 
perature, pulse and respiration. Excretions of the body, results of con- 
stipation, causes and spread of tuberculosis. 

5th: Equipment and care of the sickroom. Ventilation, heating and 
lighting and how to clean the room. Rules for the attendant. 

6th: Beds and bedmaking. To make an unoccupied bed, to change the 
bed linen with the patient in bed, to change pillows, lift a patient from 
one bed to another. 

7th: Bath and bathing. Why bathing is necessary. Cleansing baths. 
Bed baths, mustard foot baths. Care of fever patient's mouth, care of 
the hair. 

. 8th: Appliances and methods for the sick room. Causes and care of 
bed sores. Setting a patient up in bed, with pillows and back rest. Sitting 
up in armchair, use and care of bed pan. Morning and evening routine 
of the sick room. 

9th: A simple chapter on dietetics. Feeding the sick, sick room diets. 
Serving food for the sick, and how to feed a helpless patient. 

10th: Medicines and other remedies. Action of drugs. Amateur dos- 
ing. Patent remedies. Precautions in giving medicines. Enemas. Sim- 
ple soapsuds enema; sprays and gurgles. Inhalation. The household 
medicine cupboard. 

11th: Plot and cold applications. Inflamation. Applying dry and 
moist heat. Filling a hot water bag and an ice cap. Making flaxseed 
and mustard poultices. Counter-irritants. 

55 



12th: Care of patients with communicable diseases. The incubation 
period. Children's diseases. Care of nose, throat and bowel discharges. 
Care of hands, linen and cleaning sickroom. Disinfection. 

13th: Common ailments and emergencies. Fainting, convulsions, sun- 
stroke. Insect bites and stings, ivy poisoning. Treatment of slight 
wounds. Sprains, bruises and burns. 

14th: Special points in care of children. Convalescence, chronics, and 
the aged. Physical defects helped or curable in childhood, such as de- 
fective teeth, eyesight and hearing. Bowlegs and curvature. Enlarged 
tonsils and adenoids. 

The pupils are tested both by actual practice and by set 
examinations on the above outlines of work. 

Letters from the principals of the schools are in every case 
most commendatory of the instruction given. The girls feel that 
the course in home nursing is one of the most valuable they have 
had in the high school. It had been expected that the Board of 
Education would be able to take over the work beginning Sep- 
tember next, but lack of funds has prevented. At my urgent 
request, the New York County Chapter and the Kings County 
Chapter have agreed to supply nurses for the remainder of the 
year for the high schools in The Bronx, Manhattan and Brook- 
lyn. I trust the Queens County Chapter will be equally gen- 
erous. The high school girls are deeply indebted to Miss 
Fredericka Farley, of the New York County Chapter, Mrs. 
Thomas R. French, of the Brooklyn Chapter, and Mrs. Wilson, 
of the Queens Chapter, who conceived the idea and induced the 
Red Cross to furnish the funds for this experiment. 

Allow me to recommend that provision be made in the next 
year's budget for providing a nurse for each of the girls' high 
schools ; this nurse to give a course of one and one-half hours 
per week to selected girls above sixteen years of age, the nursing 
work to take the place of the required hygiene and one physical 
training period, one-fifth unit credit to be given for the course. 
The introduction of the course on this basis has not burdened 
the girls or displaced other studies. 

Training for Citizenship 

Undoubtedly the most significant new feature of the work in 
the high schools this past year was the consistent effort through- 

56 



out the year for direct intensive training - for citizenship. The 
patriotic services of the pupils and teachers which were under 
the immediate direction of Superintendent O'Shea have been 
recounted in his report. We believe that the Red Cross work, 
the Thrift Stamp and Liberty Loan Drives, the contributions for 
the orphans of Belgium and France have been of inestimable 
value in widening the vision, kindling the emotions, and devel- 
oping a sense of responsibility and a spirit of helpfulness in our 
high school boys and girls. Through these services rendered, 
they are being made better men and women and so better citi- 
zens. 

But we have felt that in addition to all these influences which 
make for better manhood and womanhood our boys and girls 
need a clearer understanding of the great world movements 
which have produced the conditions which surround us and 
which are making the conditions of tomorrow. With the open- 
ing of the school year the Great War was the all-important 
matter for every one of us. At the suggestion of Superintendent 
Ettinger, a committee of teachers, under the direction of Super- 
intendent Roberts, had prepared a syllabus on the World War 
for use in the high schools of the City of New York, and through- 
out the year this was systematically taught to every pupil in the 
high schools to the end that every pupil should understand how 
this great struggle arose, its significance for us in America, how 
we came to take part in it, and the duty incumbent upon as 
Americans to support with all our power our government in this 
most righteous war. 

The war has forced us to recognize the presence among us 
of elements whose attitude toward government is one of dis- 
tinct opposition if not hostility, who look upon government, not as 
a cooperating, but a restraining agency. These people for the most 
part come from countries where government has been an agency 
of oppression, rather than of uplifting. In order to make sure 
that this element should not in future be recruited from the 
ranks of our high school students, we established this past year 
an elective course in government which became by action of 
your Board in September, 1919, a required course of two periods 
per week for the first year of all courses in high schools. A com- 
mittee of five school teachers prepared a syllabus for this course 



which is generally regarded as the best syllabus of the kind yet 
produced. The purpose of this course is to cause the pupil to- 
realize that from his rising in the morning- till he goes to bed at 
night, and even during the night, his happiness, his very exist- 
ence is possible only because agencies of the government of New 
York City, of New York State, and of the United States are 
ceaselessly at work furnishing him with pure water, ensuring 
him pure food, healthful conditions of living, protecting his life 
and property, and furnishing him opportunities for education 
and enjoyment. Beginning with the boy in his home, in the 
street, in front of his house, this course seeks to impress upon 
the boy that government is not something far off, but some- 
thing in which he moves and has his being. It seeks to make 
him feel that government is not impersonal, but made of men,, 
that therefore when anything goes wrong, not an abstract gov- 
ernment but some man is responsible, that there is a way of reach- 
ing that individual and compelling him to remedy the wrong, 
that this government can only be a good government as he 
plays his part in supporting that government. 

For the teaching of this course we had neither properly pre- 
pared teachers nor text books, but teachers were selected who 
were interested in boys and girls and in city affairs and they set 
to work to study out what New York does for its people. Cer- 
tain teachers volunteered to make a study each of a city depart- 
ment and write a monograph on the department. These mono- 
graphs have been prepared through the cooperation of the offi- 
cials of the various city departments who have supplied the 
information and even read and corrected the monograph. The 
articles have then been mimeographed and given to the civics 
teachers. Many of them have been published in the Outlook 
and, as a result inquiries concerning this work in civics and 
requests for the syllabus have come from all parts of the coun- 
try. As a further training of the teachers for this work of mak- 
ing intelligent citizens of boys and girls, weekly conferences 
have been held under the direction of Mr. Frank A. Rexford, 
who has been assigned to this work, and at these conferences 
heads of various city departments have told of the work of their 
departments, and the writers of the articles have shown the 

58 



teachers how to teach the particular topic of the week. By the 
end of this year, we shall have a well trained body of teachers 
for this most important work. 

I believe the possibilities of this training are so great and 
the need for such training of our youth so imperative that I 
would recommend that this systematic teaching of what govern- 
ment, especially the Government of New York City, does for its 
people, should be given not only in the first year of the high 
school but also in the 7th and 8th grades of the elementary 
schools, and to the end that teachers may be prepared to teach 
this subject to their pupils, I recommend that courses in gov- 
ernment from this point of view be introduced in the city training 
schools. 

Economics Required for Graduation 

The loose speaking and often wild speeches of the radicals on 
our street corners, the hastily devised remedies for social evils 
which appear so frequently in our newspapers, the general inter- 
est of boys and girls of high school age in all movements which 
aim or claim to aim at the improvement of industrial and eco- 
nomic conditions (and who, therefore, are so frequently brought 
into contact with these theories of social amelioration or even 
social overthrow which are not based on experience and which 
are not the product of close thinking) have brought home to 
us during the past few years that we have been derelict in our 
duty as teachers in allowing our boys and girls to graduate from 
high school without such a systematic training in economics as 
will give them some understanding of our industrial conditions, 
some knowledge of the forces which control men's actions in 
industry, such training as will keep them from hastily prescrib- 
ing to half-baked theories and from joining in movements which 
are subversive of the orderly development of society. The 
Board of Superintendents has, therefore, this past year made 
economics for five periods a week in the fourth year a require- 
ment for graduation from all four year courses and has made it a 
requirement also for the three year commercial course. All stu- 
dents graduated in 1920 will, therefore, have had a course in 
Economics. 



European History Required 

The Great War has made the United States a dominating 
world power. It has seemed therefore, that our boys and girls 
should in the future have a more intimate knowledge of the coun- 
tries with whose people we are to be in closer association as 
each year rolls on, of conditions in these countries and of the 
men and movements which have brought about these conditions. 
European history, five periods a week, to be given in the third 
year, has been made a requirement for graduation from all four 
year courses. This course is not to be the old general world his- 
tory, but is to be the history of the great movements of the past 
one hundred and fifty years which have made the world of today, 
and will emphasize instead of merely battles, politics and dynas- 
ties, the great scientific discoveries, the inventions and new 
processes in industry which have resulted in the changes in the 
organization of industry and society, which come from these, the 
contributions of writers, of engineers, of the real makers of 
histoy, the significance of such books as Adam Smith's Wealth 
of Nations, and Darwin's Origin of Species. The pupils will take 
a cross section of the world in 191-1 and in the light of the rev- 
elations of the war will seek to trace the various forces which 
gave us the world of 1911 and the much troubled world of todav, 
1920. 

The changes in the course of study and the requirements for 
graduation which have been adopted by your Board this past 
year have thus had two aims, one to adapt the instruction to the 
vocational needs of the boys and girls, and the other (in recog- 
nition of the truth that citizenship is the one common vocation 
of all) to introduce subjects or at least so to modify the teach- 
ing of subjects already in the curriculum as to enable us to 
carry out the lesson taught by the Great War that it is the first 
business of the high schools to train our youth for intelligent 
competent participation in the great tasks of American 
democracy. 

No city in the country has gone further than New York City 
in the direction of consciously motivated, systematic training for 
citizenship in its high schools. No city needs such training 
more, for this is no longer an American City but rather a cosmo- 



politan city in process of being Americanized. The public 
schools, and especially the public high schools, which take the 
boys and girls at the doubting, inquiring, emotional age, when 
their minds are most active, their attitude towards life's problems 
being formed, constitute the great agency which must offset and 
overcome multitudinous opposing forces which are ceaselessly 
at work; the home with alien traditions, alien aspirations, a for- 
eign press, organizations subversive of law and order, with their 
public meetings and their street speakers, even competing Sun- 
day and night schools which announce their aims to be — "to off- 
set the vicious teaching of the public school." 

These new courses of training for citizenship will not accom- 
plish their purpose save as they are given by well trained teach- 
ers thoroughly saturated with American ideals. Government, 
economics, European history, conceived as I have indicated, will 
become plague spots if taught by teachers who are not in sym- 
pathy with our aims or who have not the training which enable 
them to grasp and realize these aims. Comparatively few of our 
high school teachers have been adequately trained for this work. 
The number is growing smaller every year rather than larger, 
for our schools, because of the rapidly diminishing salaries, are 
failing to attract vigorous, youthful men and women of American 
stock. Such men and women are not willing to lower their 
standard of living below the accepted American standard for 
men and women of education and breeding. They prefer to sac- 
rifice their inclinations and seek other occupations and leave 
teaching to those with different traditions. I know of scarcely 
a son of a teacher, principal or superintendent who, at the pres- 
ent time, is taking up teaching in the public schools as his life 
work. 

The City of New York, in order to protect its property from 
fire, installs an adequate supply of water at a cost of many mil- 
lions ; it purchases the best apparatus, no matter what the cost. 
Salaries for teachers are insurance against incompetence and in- 
efficiency in business, corruption and anarchy in civic affairs. 
New York City is facing a crisis in its schools. Its older teach- 
ers will remain and steadily lower their standard of living, giv- 
ing up now this, now that and becoming daily more dissatisfied 
and so less useful to the city. In an effort to keep their heads 

61 



above water, they are teaching in night schools, some of them 
are working also in the afternoons as well, with the result that 
they are not able to give their best energy to the day school 
work. They are growing prematurely old. Never in the twenty- 
two years of my connection with the New York School system 
have I witnessed such discouragement among teachers as at this 
time. As the system expands and as the experienced teachers 
retire or die, the new entrants are bound to. be of an inferior class. 
But the great evil is the growing discontent everywhere preva- 
lent, even among the best teachers due to the inability to pay 
bills, to educate their children as they themselves were educated. 
Discontented teachers are a danger to society, they are not, 
cannot be in a proper frame of mind to train children for the 
service of society. Their own discontent is bound to be reflected 
in the outlook on life of the children. 

Since writing the above the Lockwood-Donohue Bill has 
been passed. The beginning salary of $1,900 will probably serve 
to attract a desirable class of high school teachers but the maxi- 
mum of $3,700 will not be a sufficient inducement to hold teachers 
of the ability needed for this difficult work. In any readjust- 
ment of salaries this maximum and that of the first assistant 
should be raised. The maximum salary of the high school prin- 
cipal, $6,000, is too low. The increases of this bill are based on 
the increased cost of living which affects supervising officers 
equally with teachers. I would urge that the salary of the high 
school principal be raised at once to $6,500 to maintain its rela- 
tive parity with other salaries. 

Even with low initial salaries, teachers will enter a school 
system provided they see opportunities for promotion and a 
living salary later on. The opportunities for promotions in the 
high schools are too few. Of the 2,604 teachers in our high 
schools, 25 are principals and 166 are first assistants. We cannot 
hope to secure ambitious, energetic teachers unless we can hold 
out to them greater hope of advancement. First assistants now 
obtain their licenses and place upon an eligible list only after 
the passing of a searching test and the presentation of a fine 
record in our schools. Such persons now must wait in many 
cases many years before receiving the appointment and increased 
salary of $500 additional as a first assistant. This long waiting 



is bad for the teachers and deters teachers from entering the 
school system. As a means, therefore, of raising the morale of 
the teaching body by making possible a closer approximation to 
living salaries for some, at least, of our experienced high school 
teachers, I would urge that the first assistantship be frankly rec- 
ognized as a salary grade and that all teachers who receive the 
first assistant's license be appointed first assistants and receive 
the increased compensation. 

Notwithstanding this struggle against the crushing weight 
of ever rising prices coupled with stationary salaries, there is 
hardly a high school in which some valuable educational experi- 
ment has not been carried on this past year. In every school, 
individual teachers or groups of teachers have been busied with 
the solution of the special problems of the schools. Accounts 
of selected cases, which are of general interest will be found in 
the section of my report entitled high points. 

One of the most interesting developments of the past two 
years has been the enlargement of the scope of the monthly 
Bulletin of High Points in Modern Language Teaching edited 
by Mr. Wilkins, Director of Modern Languages in High Schools, 
so that it is now a Bulletin of High Points for all subjects 
in the high schools edited by a committee of high school teach- 
ers, with Mr. Wilkins as editor-in-chief. This bulletin has fur- 
nished a medium during the year of sending official notices to 
the teachers from the Superintendent of Schools and of bringing 
to the attention of the individual teachers accounts of experi- 
ments carried on in our high schools, improvements in method, 
and articles of interest to high school teachers. The Bulletin 
has been furnished by your Board gratis to every teacher in the 
high schools and has been sent on request to various school 
superintendents throughout the country. I believe it is generally 
recognized as the best publication of the kind of any school sys- 
tem in the country. 

During the year, Mr. Wilkins, Acting Director of Modern 
Languages for nearly three years, has still further unified and 
made effective the work in foreign languages. He has sought out 
and brought to the school teachers of Spanish, has held confer- 
ences on methods with the teachers and by his advice and tactful 

63 



supervision has greatly revised the standard of teaching. The 
great improvement he has brought about has justified his appoint- 
ment the first of this year to the position as Director of Modern 
Languages in High Schools for which he was nominated by the 
Board of Superintendents, just two years ago. He has eminently 
demonstrated the need of and value of such supervision. 

Mr. Herman H. Wright, as Acting Director of High School 
Organization, has at all times seen to it that vacancies have 
been filled by satisfactory substitutes, that the teaching force has 
been economically distributed among the various high schools, 
that the high schools have received their supplies regularly as 
far as it lay within his power through cooperation with the 
superintendent of supplies. By his careful performance of these 
duties he has saved the city thousands of dollars. I am glad to 
note that he has been appointed to the vacancy as Director of 
High School Organization for which he also was nominated by 
the Board of Superintendents two years ago. 

As set forth in Dr. Haney's report on drawing in high schools, 
the past year has shown a steady improvement both in the quality 
and scope of this work. In all of the schools, a serious attempt 
has been made to correlate the instruction with the application 
of art in industry. Several notable exhibits during the year have 
demonstrated this most clearly. The progress in drawing since 
Dr. Haney was assigned to its supervision, shows without ques- 
tion the value of expert supervision in our schools. His great 
success should lead to the appointment of directors in other tech- 
nical subjects, notably commercial branches. 

We have at the present time over 25,000 pupils studying busi- 
ness subjects, and three hundred ninety-nine teachers of these 
subjects. Allow me to point out that it is more difficult to secure 
experienced and expert teachers of these subjects than of almost 
any other subjects in the high school curriculum. The teacher who 
is able and who is well trained can secure a position in business 
which will give a much larger salary than is paid for teaching. 
Our young men of ability, with a liking for business who would 
make our best teachers tend therefore to enter business rather 
than teaching. Our good teachers constantly receive business 
offers. For example, within the past six months one of our 



assistant teachers left a salary of some $2,500 to take a business 
position at $6,500. We can secure good teachers only by appoint- 
ing young teachers of good training but without business ex- 
perience and then training them in business practices and meth- 
ods. Our pupils should be taught the practices of business as 
they are now, not as they were twenty years ago. Many of our 
heads of departments have been removed from business for many 
years. The principals of schools having the general and com- 
mercial courses are apt, because of their training, to be more 
interested in the work of the general course than in that of the 
commercial course. The result is that our commercial work is 
not as a rule on a par with the work of the general course, the 
chief reasons being (a) the difficulty of securing teachers of 
ability and proper training; (b) the lack of expert supervision. 

The situation in the intermediate schools is worse than in the 
high schools, for in those schools the teachers of these subjects 
have had, less training in business subjects than the teachers 
in the high schools and, in addition, there are no first assistants 
for the supervision of the work. Some one should be appointed 
to supervise the commercial work of both the high and inter- 
mediate schools. Such a director could visit business houses, 
confer with business men as to their practices and as to the 
deficiencies in training of the boys and girls as they come from 
the schools, and could bring back the results of his investigations 
to the schools. He could hold conferences of teachers and ad- 
vise them of better methods and modern business procedure. He 
could visit the classroom and make suggestions to the teachers 
for the improvement of the teaching. Such expert supervision 
is in my judgment imperatively needed. We are spending 
yearly about $1,000,000 for teaching business subjects. An 
expert director could be obtained for $6,000, an overhead of 
less than 2/3 of 1%. District Superintendent Bard well estimated 
that within four years Director Haney had doubled the efficiency 
of the drawing teaching. 1 believe that within three years such 
a director could raise the efficiency of the commercial work 
by at least 20%. No business house, spending $1,000,000 a year 
would hesitate one instant to employ 2/3 of 1% on expert gen- 
eral supervision. 

65 



I therefore recommend most strongly that you urge the Board 
of Education to authorize the appointment of a director of 
business subjects to assist in the supervision of training for 
business in the high, intermediate and evening schools. 

New High School Buildings 

The high schools are crowded in almost every case to full 
capacity. Even though some relief has come through the forma- 
tion of intermediate schools and the use of vacant rooms in 
elementary schools as annexes to high schools, we have reached 
the limit. No new high school building has been begun during 
the past four years. Great as is the need for elementary schools, 
the City of .New York can as well afford to build high schools as 
can the other great cities of the country. I would urge, therefore, 
that the Board of Education again impress upon the Board of 
Estimate the need of immediately acquiring the site for the Julia 
Richman High School and granting an appropriation for the 
construction of the building. 

The Washington Heights annex of the Morris High School, 
which was organized February 1, 1920, as an independent school, 
is already filled to capacity, with no relief in sight. I therefore 
recommend that the Board of Education again urge the Board 
of Estimate to acquire one of the sites already recommended by 
the Board of Education and also grant an appropriation for the 
building so much needed for the Washington Heights section. 

For years the Board of Education has owned a site for a high 
school at Pennsylvania and Dumont Avenues, (Brownsville) 
Brooklyn. A new building on that site would relieve the 
pressure on several other high schools as well as serve the needs 
of the people of the Brownsville section. I therefore strongly 
recommend that the Board renew its request for an appropria- 
tion for a building on this site to house pupils, both boys and 
girls for the general and commercial courses. 

The Borough of the Bronx is growing most rapidly and is 
becoming a great center for manufacturing. Its boys who now 
plan to enter the industries must now travel long distances to 
Stuyvesant High School. I would recommend that the Board of 

66 



Education seek to acquire a site in the southern part of the Bronx 
for a technical high school and it establish such a school at the 
earliest possible moment. 

A Cooperative High School 

For the past five years the cooperative course in the high 
schools has been carried on under great difficulties, due to. the 
fact that the number of pupils taking this course in a single 
high school was not large enough for the work to be economically 
and efficiently organized. Cooperative pupils have been assigned 
to small classes with a resulting high per capita cost of instruc- 
tion, or in some cases they have been enrolled in the regular 
classes and have thus been asked to do in one week the work 
which the regular pupils have spread over two weeks. This 
arrangement has laid too heavy a burden of work on the co- 
operative pupils, or else has caused the syllabus for these pupils 
to be so reduced as to lose most of its training value. Further- 
more, notwithstanding the efforts of the co-ordinators, it has 
not been possible, when the pupils were assigned to the same 
classes with pupils taking the regular course, to drive home the 
lessons derived from the weeks spent in business. 

In an effort to avoid the large overhead charge for co-ordi- 
nators during the past year the cooperative work has been 
limited to. a few high schools. More effective teaching has re- 
sulted from this concentration of cooperative pupils in eleven 
schools. Those in charge of the work have come to believe 
that if all the pupils who desired to take this part-time coopera- 
tive work were gathered in one school we should have suffi- 
ciently large groups of students working in the same industry 
to permit the laying out of a course of study and the formulation 
of methods of teaching especially adapted to the preparation of 
boys and girls for that particular industry. Such a school, more- 
over could have as its principal a man selected because of his 
understanding of, experience in, and sympathy with this type 
of education. The teachers should all be men and women 
assigned to this school because of their special equipment for 
and interest in this work. As a result, riot only would the pupils 
receive a better training, but the per capita cost would be greatly 
reduced. 



67 



This judgment is supported by Associate Superintendent 
Staubenmiiller, who is in charge of vocational activities, and by- 
Mr. Percy Straus, President of the Department Stores Associa- 
tion, who has taken such a keen interest in the cooperative work 
in salesmanship. 

Department store salesmanship is opening up such great 
possibilities for our high school pupils, especially for girls, that 
this field of work alone would justify the organization of this 
high school. The Department Stores Association has recently 
given evidence of its belief in this type of education by contrib- 
uting $125,000 to New York University for the establishing of 
courses on a cooperative basis. They strongly urge the organ- 
ization of this school and pledge their heartiest support. 

At the present time, we have some 1,250 pupils in the co- 
operative course, grouped in eleven high schools and necessi- 
tating the assignment of fourteen teachers as co-ordinators. The 
salaries of these co-ordinators for the next year amount to 
$59,450. If these pupils were gathered into one building, half 
the number of co-ordinators would suffice. 

The building for the proposed cooperative high school can 
be found in Public School 44, Manhattan, at Hubert and Collis- 
ter Streets. It has the following advantages : 

a. It is a comparatively new building and in good condition. 

b. It is located in a business district where cooperative stu- 
dents could easily be placed. 

c. It would be convenient for salesmanship classes in de- 
partment stores. 

d. It is easy of access from all parts of the city. The follow- 
ing transportation lines all have stations on Canal Street, 
the farthest being about 12 minutes' walk from the school: 

Seventh Avenue Subway 
Ninth Avenue Elevated 
Sixth Avenue Elevated 
Broadway Subway- 
Lexington Avenue Subway. 

Six rooms in this building are not in use. Five rooms could 
be freed by transferring the crippled classes now occupying 
them to Public School 65, as was proposed last year. Since these 



pupils are carried in stages, the change can be made without 
hardship to the pupils. Four additional rooms can be obtained 
by transferring the pupils of the 7A-8B grades to Public School 
38 and merging them with the eight classes in these grades in 
that school. Four teachers can thus be saved by this consoli- 
dation, a saving in salaries of at least $7,600 for the first year, 
and none of the classes will exceed 40 in enrollment. District 
Superintendent Taylor reports that this consolidation is entirely 
practicable. The transfer of these classes would leave but four- 
teen classes in Public School 44, so the service of a principal 
could be dispensed with, and a teacher in charge substituted, 
resulting in a further saving of $1,150. 

In the fifteen rooms thus made available, an independent co- 
operative high school, the first in this country, can be organized, 
to accommodate 1,000 pupils, 500 constituting school A to be 
in school one week, and the following week the entire 500 to 
be in offices and stores, while the other 500, constituting school 
B, take their places in the school building. Thus with one set of 
teachers, two separate schools . will be operated in the same 
building with greatly increased efficiency and greatly decreased 
per capita cost. 

These 1,000 pupils will be drawn from the high schools now 
offering the cooperative course and will be, for the most part, 
students who have finished two years in high school. Later, 
when more space is available, pupils may possibly be enrolled 
at an earlier stage. The withdrawal of the 1,000 pupils will 
lessen the congestion in the high schools. 

I recommend that provision be made in the Budget for estab- 
lishing this cooperative" high school at the earliest possible mo- 
ment. 



Setting Off the Far Rockaway High School Department as an 
Independent High School 

During the past year there have been 24^ positions author- 
ized in the high school department of the Far Rockaway school, 
known as P. S. 39, Queens. One teacher in excess has been 
assigned to that school. Owing to the crowded conditions in 

69 



Manhattan, there has been a very considerable increase in the 
number of residents of Far Rockaway, with the result that there 
will be a very large increase in the school enrollment in Septem- 
ber. It will become necessary, therefore to increase the number 
of teachers in the high school department to more than 25. 
When the high school department has 25 teachers, the position 
of principal carries with it the salary of a high school principal. 
The present organization, running from the kindergarten through 
the high school grades is an unwieldly organization. Inasmuch 
as the salary of the principal must shortly become the salary of 
a high school principal, I recommend that the Far Rockaway 
school be divided into two parts, an elementary school and a 
high school. 

The Far Rockaway High School Department now occupies 
the second floor of the new building, four regular classrooms, 
three small rooms and the assembly room of the old grammar 
school building. High school pupils also make use of the impro- 
vised lunch room in the basement of the old building after the 
grammar school pupils have vacated it at 12 :40. 

The projected eight-room addition, a third story for the new 
building is to be equipped with laboratories, etc., for high school 
use. As soon as this is completed, early in the fall, the high 
school will be moved out of the classrooms of the old building. 
This will release four rooms in the old building for grammar 
school use. The high school will continue to use the assembly 
room of the old building, however, which is reached by a passage- 
way from the second floor of the new building. The common 
lunch room for the two schools might well be abandoned by high 
school pupils and provision made for them in the kitchen on the 
second floor of the new building. This basement lunch room is 
wholly inadequate even for the grammar school pupils. 

The grammar school numbers 1,100 pupils. The whole school 
except the eighth grade is on part time. A new grammar school 
building in the Edgemere or Bayswater section is almost im- 
perative. Both schools are growing rapidly because of the rapid 
influx of year round residents. The high school interests and 
activities are quite as varied as are those of much larger schools. 
The register in September will be close to 600 pupils. 



The welfare of both schools would doubtless be promoted if 
they could be separated. This could be accomplished by assign- 
ing the new building to the high school and using the old gram- 
mar school for the elementary school pupils. During the sum- 
mer vacation and the month following a third story, containing 
the laboratories referred to above, will be added to the new 
part of the school, giving 22 classrooms in all, which will be 
sufficient to accommodate the high school proper. The solution 
proposed can be but temporary in nature as the present school 
facilities are inadequate for the rapidly growing population. 

I would recommend, therefore, that the Board of Education 
be asked to secure a site in a more central location for the Rock- 
aways and an appropriation for a building, as soon as possible. 
That on the site thus acquired a building should be erected which 
should accommodate not only the high school but the 7th and 8th 
grades from the four elementary schools of Rockaway Beach 
and Far Rockaway. If this were done, the elementary schools 
would be able to take care for some years of the pupils of the 
first six grades and a central school would thus be established 
which would be a six year school. We would then have an 
actual working out of the 6-6 plan under the most favorable con- 
ditions. 

I would recommend that for the coming year an appropria- 
tion be placed in the Budget for the salary of a high school 
principal for the Far Rockaway High School thus to be estab- 
lished. 



71 



REPORT OF MR. FRANK A. REXFORD, ASSIGNED TO 
THE DIVISION OF HIGH SCHOOLS 

Civics 

In the fall of 1918 the Board of Superintendents placed the 
subject of civics in the first year of the high school curriculum. 
Four periods a week for one term or two periods a week during 
the first year are now required for high school graduation. Up 
to that time civics had been taught in connection with Ameri- 
can history in the fourth year. With this new requirement we 
were face to face with the problem of framing a new course of 
study preparing a syllabus adapted to the needs of first year 
pupils and putting it into operation at once. 

A syllabus committee of teachers was appointed at once, but 
we were already teaching the subject. Each school was told to 
shape a course which would deal with the immediate civic envi- 
ronment of the child and community civics was under way. As 
civics was made a required subject and all other subjects but 
English were made elective in the first year, and as there were 
no civics teachers as such on any list, the outline proposed in 
the various high schools were prepared from many different 
view points ; viz., biological, historical, economic and social. 

On March 1, 1919, I was assigned to assist in the supervi- 
sion of this subject. Three things seemed to be needed imme- 
diately : (1) An understanding among the teachers regarding the 
type of civics teaching to be required, (2) aids in the way of ma- 
terials for study by both teachers and pupils, and (3) cooperation 
with the civic enterprises about us, both public and private. 

Conferences 

The first obstacle seemed to be the most serious, so it was 
taken up at once. On March 5th all the civics teachers of the 
city were called in conference. At this time Superintendent 
Tildsley addressed them on "What We Mean by Community 
Civics." The teachers were very enthusiastic. Free discussion 
was encouraged and a tentative outline of procedure was adopted 
for the remaining weeks of the term. Weekly conferences were 
continued the rest of the year. When we were desirous of studv- 

72 



ing the workings of any particular department, the commissioner 
in each case sent a speaker to address the meeting. Among the 
topics which were discussed are the following : 

What We Mean by Community Civics 

Teaching Civics without a Text Book 

Selecting Topics for a Syllabus in Community Civics 

Some Problems of the Civics Teacher 

What the Municipal Library can do to help 

Field Work and Working Tools of the Civics Teacher 

The Civic Attitude 

Aims and Problems of the Tenement 

House Department V4 

Fire Department and the Community 

How the City Pays Its Bills 

The Sweatshop and the Community 

Civic Beauty as an Asset 

Protecting the Health of the People 

Care of the City's Wards. 

These conferences have been valuable as a clearing-house for 
ideas, a source of information and an inspiration to develop not 
only ideas but activities of functional citizenship. 

Material for Study, Cooperation 

As there was no available text book on local civics, we turned 
at once to the municipal authorities for help. Through the 
courtesy of Mayor Hylan, each city department was instructed 
to cooperate in every way possible. Civic organizations through- 
out the city and the state were asked to furnish us with copies 
of reports of their proceedings. Mr. Dorsey W. Hyde, Jr., 
Municipal Librarian at that time, was most helpful. Scores of 
pamphlets were collected from the different stock rooms of the 
Municipal Building, City Hall and other city offices and carried 
to the Municipal Library. Here for several days the civic libra- 
ries for the high schools were being made up. When the time 
came for delivering them, the librarian accompanied the auto- 
mobile to every high school in the city and personally invited 
the teachers and students to make full use of the special room 
which he had fitted up for them in the Municipal Building. 
While space forbids the entire list of helps we received the fol- 
lowing list is comprehensive and suggestive : 

73 



Municipal Library Notes (weekly). 

Bulletin of Women's Municipal Club (weekly). 

The City Record (daily). 

Code of Ordinances. 

Catskill Water 

Progress in New York City Administration 

Maintenance of Pavements 

Terminal Facilities of New York 

Annual Report of Fire Department 

Fire Prevention Letter 

American City Magazine 

Teaching Citizenship with the Movies 

What to Read on New York Government 

Work of the Department of Street Cleaning 

Ordinances Relative to Cleaning Streets 

Over a Century of Health Administration in New York 

Important Facts about Sewage Disposal 

Annual Report, Board of Ambulance Service 

Annual Report, Child Welfare Committee 

Annual Report, Department of Charities 

Annual Report, State Industrial Commission 

Annual Report, State Conservation Commission 

Suggestions, Department of Food and Markets 

Maps from Queens Borough Chamber of Commerce 

Touring Maps from Board of Estimate and Apportionment 

Safeguarding Against Fire (U. S. Bureau of Education). 

Even with this fund of reference and literature which was 
•so. freely supplied by the city department, the teachers were 
overworked in translating the facts into teachable material for 
the pupils. Then, too, our fifteen thousand civics students used 
the pamphlets. They began to wear out and we had depleted 
our source. 

The Syllabus Committee 

At this point the syllabus committee consisting of Dr. Alfred 
C. Bryan (chairman), Augustus S. Beatman, Miss Mabel 
Skinner, Miss Ella Osgood and Benjamin Gruenberg made its 
report which was immediately approved by the Board of Super- 
intendents and the Board of Education. This committee did a 
wonderful piece of creative and constructive work. The hack- 
neyed idea of abstract structural civics is supplanted in the new 
syllabus by one of concrete, functional citizenship. 

74 



Writing a Text Book — The Civics Monographs 

We still felt the need of teaching material in teachable form. 
As many teachers were teaching the subject exceptionally well, 
it was thought that all would gain if those who were succeeding 
particularly well in certain lines "would prepare monographs for 
the others. This was suggested at one of the conferences. 
Teachers were asked to volunteer to prepare interesting and 
educational papers on each of the twenty-two topics of the 
syllabus. There was an immediate response. Within a week 
topics were assigned and the monographs were in preparation. 
Each monograph was mimeographed and supplied to all the 
teachers. In May, 1919, the monographs began to attract atten- 
tion. The editors of the Outlook magazine considered them of 
such importance that they purchased the publication rights of 
the individuals who wrote them. Thus they were printed in 
100,000 lots from September, 1919, to May, 1920. The copyright 
and the plates from which the monographs were printed have 
been presented to the Board of Education. 

While the civics articles were a wonderful help to us here in 
New York, they were read and appreciated throughout the coun- 
try, because of the manner in which the subject matter is pre- 
sented. 



Monographs 

Titles 
Training the Voter of Tomorrow 
The City's Water Supply 
Protecting the Food of the City 
Guarding the Health of the People 
Clothing; A Subject of Slight Official Action 
Disposal of City Wastes 
Regulation of Buildings 
Communication and Transportation 
Lighting and Heating as Public Utilities 
Protection of Life and Property 
Public Regulation of Work 
Public Provision for Recreation 
City Planning 
Civic Beauty 
Care of the City's Wards 

B. Correction 

A. Charities 



Authors 
Supt. John L. Tildsley 
J. Lewis Stockton 
Nellie Reed 
W. W. Rogers 
Augustus S. Beatman 
Myrtle J. Joseph 
Edith Lyle 
Mary B. Morse 
Thomas Lovely 
Morris Deshel 
Augustus S. Beatman 
Ernest E. Smith 
Helen G. Preston 
Mabel Skinner 



A. Everett Peterson 



Making the Laws Thomas Murphy- 
Carrying Out the Laws Fred White 
Judicial Action Morris Deshel 
Paying the City's Bills Lolabel H. Hall 
Public Education Supt. Wm. McAndrew 
The Part of the Citizen in Government George Leutscher 

Here again cooperation on the part of city officials was freely 
and gladly given in the preparation of the monographs. 



Monographs Widely Read 

As a result of the wide publicity given our civics work many 
letters have been received and many questions have been asked. 
A law firm in Denver asks that cases and decisions be cited 
which show the workings of some of our health laws ; a teacher 
in Maine writes us that these articles have been a great help to 
her in teaching citizenship. An American in China asks for 
reprints, and about two hundred requests from different parts of 
the country have been received for copies of the syllabus. A 
letter from Japan is reproduced. 

I 

i " Copy 

MUNICIPAL OFFICE OF TOYKO 

Referred to 

Mr. Rexford March 16, 1920. 

To Mr. Director of Outlook 
Dear Sir : 

I have the honor of begging your agreeable answer as soon 
as you receive this paper with my wishing. 

For I am a loving reader of Outlook the wordly authorita- 
tive magazine, I could find a article in this volume continually 
from Oct. 1, 1919, entitled "Community Civic" which being rec- 
ognized as the most powerful and profitable one to lead the 
Citizens of Toyko. Hereby, I want to translate this article into 
Japanese and publish as a book by my name, so I ask your spe- 
cial permission to let it without any compensation. 

76 



Thanking in anticipation your cordial reply by your earlier 
convenience. 

Yours very obediently, 

(Signed) F. IAMI, 
Secretary of the Mayor of Toyko, 
Japan 

Civic Assemblies 

During the past year an effort has been made to inject live 
civics topics into the programs of high school assemblies. With 
this in mind a list of exceptional speakers for boys and girls on 
all phases of city government was compiled. These speakers 
were asked if they would be willing to address assemblies of 
students or teachers. The response was instantaneous and we 
were able to send this list to the high school principals with the 
request that they make use of it. In general this has been done. 

Block Captains 

The Merchants Association' of New York is interested in 
promoting an Anti-Litter Bureau. This activity is intended to 
teach boys and girls through their own activities to keep the 
city clean. Pupils are invited to keep an eye out for violations 
of certain ordinances and report to headquarters. Pupils who 
volunteer for this are appointed by Block Captains. There are 
about 5,000 of these Block Captains in our civics classes. 

Extension of Civic Activities 

There are many and varied outside activities which we aim 
to tie up to the civics work as elections, class organization, 
reports of committees, various patriotic drives and prize essay 
contests. 

Snow Removal 

During the blizzard last winter, we encouraged the boys and 
teachers to get out and shovel snow. The unusually heavy fall 
of snow in the early days of February gave our high school boys 
and teachers an opportunity to put some of their civic theory 
into actual practice. 

77' . j 



The Bureau of Snow Removal made an arrangement whereby- 
volunteer groups of boys accompanied by their teachers as 
supervisors were assigned to the street cleaning squad. 

The following tabulation gives an idea of the high school 
participating; the hours worked and the remuneration. 







No. of 


No. hrs. 


Com- 


High Schools 


No. of Boys 


Teachers 


worked 


pensation 


Commerce 


256 


6 


3125 


$1562.50 


DeWitt Clinton . 


200 


4 


3000 


1500.00 


Boys H. S 


200 


3 


1200 


600.00 


Commercial 


197 


8 


1977 


088.50 


Erasmus 


155 


6 


6039 


3019.50 


Man. Training.. 


82 


2 


850 


425.00 


Evander Childs.. 


40 


o 


1200 


500.00 


Stuyvesant 


36 


1 


513 


256.50 


Bushwick 


10 




141 


70.50 


Total 


1170 


32 


18045 


$9022.50 



That the boys rendered satisfactory service is evidenced by 
the reports which were received from the high school principals. 
"I visited several of the gangs and the man in charge said 
our boys were doing well." 

PRINCIPAL RAYNOR 
Commercial High School. 

"Both the Street Cleaning and Police Department were en- 
thusiastic over the work of the students, as were also the prop- 
erty owners along the street on which they worked. They were 
told that they did much more work than did the regular laborers 
employed. We have not heard of one case of sickness from the 
exposure." 

PRINCIPAL LOW, 
Erasmus Hall High School. 

"All the teachers reported that the city inspectors regarded the 
experiment as decidedly successful." 

MR. DELANEY. 
DeWitt Clinton High School. 

"Boys High School boys opened Lafayette Avenue from 
Bedford Avenue to Broadway (1*4 miles), and cleared one and 



78 



a half blocks of the same street. The' D. S. C. Superintendent 
of the district said the boys did twice as much work as laborers. 
According to the figures published in the newspaper, snow shov- 
eling done by boys cost the city one-half of what it cost when 
done by laborers receiving the same pay." 

PRINCIPAL JANES, 

Boys High School. 

"Samuel Lothian, Foreman of the 27th District and Daniel 
Fernandez, Assistant Foreman, said that they had handled men 
for a great many years but that they had never had a gang 
that accomplished so much and did it with such will as these 
boys." 

MR. FALLON, 
High School of Commerce. 

The following letter reflects the success of the venture : 

Mr. George P. Fallon, 
Director of Placements, 
High School of Commerce, 

155 West 65th Street, 
New York City. 

Dear Mr. Fallon: — 

I am in receipt of your letter of the 9th instant and take this oppor- 
tunity to express to you my heartfelt appreciation for the good work the 
boys of your school did on Columbus Avenue, from 81st Street to 72nd 
Street, in the 27th District. The example set by yourself and your boys 
is one to be emulated by other schools of this city. I desire to state at 
this time that I shall write the Mayor and let him know what you have 
done. 

Yours truly, 

(Signed) A. B. MacSTAY, 
Commissioner of Street Cleaning. 

Throughout the high schools the teachers of civics are aiming 
to study government as a living organism. Emphasis is being 
placed on the spirit and functions of government rather than on 
its form.. Special attention is given to activities of government, 



and to the reciprocal obligation of government and the citizen. 
The children of the high schools are being taught that they are 
citizens, that government is largely the result of public opinion, 
that it is their duty to study government, think about govern- 
ment, and talk about government intelligently and interestingly. 

FARM SERVICE 

1919 

Although funds were unavailable for continuation of the 
service in 1919, the movement had gained such momentum 
among the farmers and among the boys that it was impossible 
to do away with it altogether. About a hundred boys were 
placed on farms and supervised throughout the summer vacation 
of 1919 and more than three hundred requests for boys were 
refused because of inability to provide for supervision. Only 
such farmers received boy help from us as were personally 
known to be desirable employers. 

Camps 

Forty-five boys were on the farm of Mr. Harcourt Cosman, 
Newburgh, N. Y., for a period of six weeks picking small fruits. 
The living quarters were inspected and approved by the State 
Board of Health before the boys were allowed to go. A super- 
visor who was approved by us was employed by Mr. Cosman. I 
inspected the camp personally and found that good food and 
clean and airy sleeping arrangements had been provided. The 
boys were happy and the farmer was satisfied. 

We had a sad example of the value of supervision at this 
camp. Some of the parents went to boarding houses near by 
to be near their boys. The day following the closing of the camp 
and cessation of supervision one of the boys who had remained 
with his parents was drowned in the Hudson. 

Another camp of twenty-five boys was located on the Pine 
Hill Nursery Farm at Deer Park, L. I. Here also we approved 
the supervisor. The same healthful conditions existed here as 
in the Newburgh camp. The work here included general farm- 
ing, peach picking, cucumber picking and pickling. 



Individual Workers 

Thirty-three boys from various high schools were placed 
with individual farmers who are personally known to me. These 
boys were in homes where any city dweller might be glad to 
be a guest. They were members of the families in which they 
lived and were a part of all the doings connected with the coun- 
try life, recreation as well as work. 

Wages 

The fruit picking boys did not earn large wages nor was it 
intended that they should. Each boy was required to pick 
twenty-five quarts of fruit per day to pay for his board. For 
each quart in excess of the twenty-five he picked for his living 
in any day, he received three cents. These boys were for the 
most part small and it was felt that six weeks of sunshine and 
air accompanied by good food and enough work for healthful 
exercise was worth far more than the money they were able 
to bring home with them. They did, however, earn about $10.00 
each more than their expenses. 

The boys on Long Island were larger and able to do any 
kind of farm work. These boys earned $7.00 per week besides 
their expenses. These boys were working by the piece and by 
the day. 

The boys on individual farms received from $25.00 to $35.00 
per month net. 

Prospect for 1920 

The idea of living on the farm during the summer vacation 
appeals to many boys. Those who have been out for the past 
two years will go again this summer. 

There is more need of this help now than there was in 1918. 
The estimates of the shortage of farm crops for 1920 in New 
York State are in the vicinity of 200,000 acres. Our boys in 
1918 were given credit for producing 212,000 acres of food crops. 

The farmers are again seeking this help (May, 1920) ; the 
boys are clamoring to go and the authorities, both State and 
City declare that production should be increased. 



The key note of the whole situation is supervision. If it can 
not be provided, we cannot assume the responsibility of sending 
these boys out to work on the farms. 

Agriculture 

The farm service which our boys rendered during the war as 
a food production measure has given rise to requests for agri- 
culture instruction in the high schools. After many conferences 
with agricultural teachers and supervisors in other cities a course 
of study was drawn up. This has been approved by the Board 
of Superintendents and the Board of Education. It was put 
into effect in the Newtown High School in September, 1919, 
according to the following recommendations : 

New York, May 12th, 1919. 
To the Board of Education : 

I have the honor to present the following resolution, which 
was adopted by the Board of Superintendents at a meeting held 
on the 9th instant. : 

RESOLVED, That the Board of Education be requested to approve 
the following Course of Study in Agriculture for boys in high schools, 
to go into effect in September, 1919: 

FIRST YEAR 

Periods Agriculture 1 

per week Elementary soils and crops 

English 5 Vegetable gardening 

Biology or General Science... 5 Fruit growing 

Civics and Farm Arithmetic. 5 Farm shop (may be given) as sup- 
Physical Training 2 plementary course 

Elective 5 Supervised summer work on truck 

Agriculture 10 farm or with vegetable garden 

SECOND YEAR 

English 4 Agriculture 2 

Physics or chemistry 5 Soils, fertilizers, crops and markets 

Elective 5 Supervised summer work with 

Physical Training 2 crops 

Agriculture II 10 

82 



THIRD YEAR 

English 4 Agriculture 3 

Physics or chemistry 5 Animal husbandry 

European history 5 Poultry husbandry 

Elective 5 Supervised summer work with ani- 

Physical Training 2 mals 

Agriculture III 10 

FOURTH YEAR 

English 4 Agriculture 4 

American History 5 Farm machinery 

Economics or elective 5 Farm management 

Physical Training 2 Supervised summer work in farm 

Agriculture IV 10 management 

In connection with the foregoing, Associate Superintendent 
Meleney submitted a report reading as follows : 

"Mr. Frank A. Rexford, Supervisor of Farm Service and Agricultural 
Instruction, at the request of the Superintendent of Schools, took part in 
a conference on High School Agricultural Courses for city schools. The 
members of the conference included Lewis A. Wilson, Division of Agri- 
cultural and Industrial Education of New York State; A. K. Getman and 
C. E. Ladd, specialists in Agricultural Education, Albany, N. Y. Pro- 
fessor Works, New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell Uni- 
versity, and the representative from New York City. 

"The conference was called because of the recent experience in plac- 
ing city boys on farms and the increasing interest in agricultural educa- 
tion throughout the country. This part of the educational field is con- 
sidered of great importance, as is evidenced by the liberal appropriations 
that are available in both state and federal departments for the express 
purpose of rendering financial aid to any local educational body of a 
public school system that will take the work up seriously. This will be 
discussed later in this report. 

"A summary of the state and federal requirements for agricultural 
courses in high schools emphasized the following points: 

"1. A school of agriculture must provide for at least six months of 
directed or supervised practice in agriculture each year for four 
years. 

"2. Agricultural schools must meet the approval of the Commissioner 
of Education. 

a. as to teachers 

b. as to equipment ($500 for each school, not all at once) 



c. as to library 

d. as to provision for professional improvement of agricultural 
instructor. 

(In 1919 a one week conference will be held at Ithaca.) 

e. Provision should be made for expenses of travel of the agri- 
cultural instructor and pupils. 

"The foregoing suggested Course in Agriculture for city high schools 
was presented by the New York representative. This course was finally 
approved for all city high schools in New York State. 

"It will be noted that this course implies a twenty-four or twenty-five 
week session in the school room, and that the pupils taking this course are 
to be moved out of doors for six months. Recreation and vacation will 
be arranged during the farming season. 

"The plan for placing the boys on farms is an outgrowth of the farm 
service which has been carried on during the war. Boys can be self- 
supporting and learning at the same time. The agricultural instructor 
will accompany the boys and supervise their summer work. 

"This course suggests a four-year sequence, English; a three-year 
sequence, science; and a two-year sequence, history. Students who wish 
to receive the academic State diploma may do so by taking the Regents 
examination in these subjects. 



State and Federal Aid 

"If a local community employs agricultural teachers, the State and 
Federal aid to the community is shown in the following table (it will be 
noted that no Federal aid is given for teachers who receive less than 
fourteen hundred dollars per annum). 



Yearly Salary 


Iiocal 


State 




Federal 


$1,100 


$300 


$800 






1,200 


333 1/3 


866 


2/3 




1,300 


366 2/3 


933 


1/3 




1,400 


200 


1,000 




$200 


1,500 


233 1/3 


1,000 




266 2/3 


1,600 


266 2/3 


1,000 




333 1/3 


1,700 


300 


1,000 




400 


1,800 


333 1/3 


1,000 




466 2/3 


1,900 


366 2/3 


1,000 




533 1/3 


2,000 


400 


1,000 




600 



Application to New York City 

"I believe that. there is a real call for a course of this kind in some of 
the suburban high schools. Later, as the interest and success of the work 
make themselves felt, it could with profit be introduced into more strictly 
suburban schools. It would work something like this: The first year, 
the students would enter with the rest of the students. Their academic 
work would be intensified so that they would be ready to go to the land 
about May 1st. The agricultural teacher will go with them and super- 
vise and instruct them, and act as their guardian until November 1st. 
They will then come back to school and go on through the other years 
of the course on the same schedule. It is possible that enough work 
would be available in the vicinity of the school so that they would not 
be away from home the first year and need not necessarily be taken out 
of school so early. Local conditions would have to determine the prob- 
lem of the first year. 

"The matter of working the agricultural course into the program is 
clearly a matter of administration that will be special and local. 

"The testimony which has been given in favor of our farm service 
for boys for the past two years seems to indicate that there is a growing 
demand for some kind of agricultural education for our city boys. These 
boys have made good on the farms with little or no training, have sus- 
tained themselves admirably in their regular school work on returning 
to school, and a number of them are looking forward to agriculture as 
a life work. 

"If no further evidence were available than the fact that more than 
90% of the students attending the Farmingdale State School of Agri- 
culture are from New York City, the need of agricultural instruction in 
our high schools would be obvious. 

"This plan has been worked out and is recommended by Mr. Rexford 
who has given a great deal of study to the problem. He has had ample 
experience in the practical teaching of agriculture to enable him to direct 
this work. He believes that this course will accomplish even better re- 
sults than even a special school of agriculture, because it will afford an 
opportunity for pupils to work and study actual agricultural problems 
on the farm under conditions which every farmer has to meet. I have 
discussed this problem and Mr. Rexford's report with Dr. John L. Tilds- 
ley, the Superintendent in charge of high schools. 

"Respectfully submitted, 

(Signed) "W. L. ETTINGER, 
"Chairman, Board of Superintendents." 

Attest: 

(Signed) THOMAS E. BUSSEY, 

Secretary, Board of Superintendents. 

85 



The course has been popular from the beginning. There are 
twenty boys taking this course. It has been impossible thus far 
to comply with all the State and Federal requirements because 
of a cut in the budget which deprived us of the traveling expenses 
of the teacher, during the six months of supervised agricultural 
practice. 

There is no question about the need and the popularity of 
this phase of high school instruction if the minimum require- 
ments as to teachers, equipment and incidental expenses is met. 

General Science 

During the past five years there has been a growing move- 
ment throughout the high schools of the country in favor of 
introducing a subject to be known as General Science as a first 
year elective. Two years ago a few high schools in New York 
City presented proposed outlines of a course of study in this 
subject and were given permission to offer the course. 

At the present time fourteen high schools are giving such a 
course. Inspection of the classes shows that there is no preva- 
lent concept as to just what topics should be included and more 
particularly how the chosen topics should be treated. 

A tentative outline was prepared in 1919 and a syllabus com- 
mittee has been working seriously throughout this year. 

There are no general science teachers as such. The subject 
is usually taught by either biology or physical science teachers 
and the instruction has been influenced by their capabilities and 
inclinations. 

Certain parts of biology, physics, chemistry and physiography 
are closely related to the life of the child and to each other. It 
would seem that a grouping and blending of these intimately 
connected topics would, if interestingly presented, give the child 
first hand scientific experience and information regarding himself 
and the world in which he lives. We should aim to teach the 
child by means of general science. This does not mean, how- 
ever, that teachers should allow themselves to attempt to teach 
smatterings of science under the guise of general science by 
means of the child. 



86 



General Science in order to hold a place for itself on a par 
with other first year subjects must have its aims, contents and 
methods of presentation systematically denned. The past year 
has been one of experiment. A committee of high school teachers 
headed by Mr. E. A. Bedford of DeWitt Clinton is at work on 
such an outline. 

The following statement by Mr. E. A. Bedford, of the DeWitt 
Clinton High School sums up the experience of one school. 

General Science in DeWitt Clinton High School 

Many teachers have felt for a long time that the pupils in 
the New York City High Schools were not profiting suffi- 
ciently from their first year of science. This year of science to 
be satisfactory must meet a number of requirements. 

1. It must be interesting to the pupils, for without interest 
there can be no. mental reaction. 

2. It must be of such a character that the spirit of inquiry 
will be encouraged and the attitude of independent judgment, of 
open-mindedness, and of reliance upon facts will be cultivated. 

3. It must be a course that will provide for the pupil who 
must leave schpol for work at the end of one or two years, and 
at the same time will furnish a basis for the future science work 
of pupils who continue in school. 

Since the two courses Elementary Biology and General 
Science have been carried on at DeWitt Clinton High School 
there has been opportunity to compare the two courses in regard 
to the above requirements. All the teachers who have classes 
in General Science were originally biology teachers, most of 
them of many years experience. All of these teachers agree that 
for the pupils of DeWitt Clinton High School the General 
Science Course arouses more interest, develops a greater degree 
of self-activity, and furnishes the pupils with more usable knowl- 
edge than the parallel course in biology. 

Some of the reasons given are that: 

1. It deals with the things that the pupil wants to know 
about, regardless of the artificial limitations of the special 



87 



2. It leads the pupil to some understanding of the phenom- 
ena of great economic importance. 

3. It lends itself readily to the project-problem method of 
teaching by which the pupil's self-activity is developed. The 
desire to solve some especially difficult problem, to make some 
piece of machinery or to find out how some important process 
is performed results in continued improvement and progress in 
the pupil's development. 

One teacher has summed up her conclusions as follows: "It 
is a course which satisfies and at the same time stimulates the 
native curiosity, offers a fund of important information, develops 
the scientific attitude of mind in the solution of all problems, 
both in the school laboratory and in the school of life, and en- 
courages a desire to be of service to others." Those pupils who 
continue in school have an intelligent basis for the selection of 
further science courses. 

The introduction of the General Science course has not abol- 
ished instruction in biology. Biological material which is of 
greatest interest to the city pupil, and is important for under- 
standing problems of world-wide importance such as the work 
of bacteria, and food making by green plants are included in the 
General Science course. 

At the end of the year of General Science, the pupil is per- 
mitted to elect chemistry, biology, or a scond language. The 
year in General Science has given him an opportunity to discover 
his science interests so that he has an intelligent basis for the 
election of further science courses. 

Our experience at DeWitt Clinton High School indicates 
that the ideal science program is, a good General Science course 
in the first year of the High School or in the 8th or 9th grades 
of the Intermediate School, preceded by carefully directed Nature 
Study work in the grades and followed by the election of a min- 
imum of two science courses in the High School. 

While some instruction in Hygiene, is given in connection 
with the work in General Science, the boys of DeWitt Clinton 
receive instruction for one hour per week during every term that 
a biological or general science is not taken. 



Plans for Shop Work for General Science Pupils 

To give pupils an opportunity to work out individual con- 
struction projects, it is planned to make one of the stock rooms, 
Room 224, into a shop. Permission has been given by the Di- 
rector of Vocational Schools for the transfer to DeWitt Clinton 
High School of several wood working benches which constituted 
a part of the equipment of one of the "Gary" schools. 

Requisition has been made for a limited number of tools. 
Pupils will be permitted to work here during their study periods 
and after school at which times the shop will be in charge of a 
teacher. 



89 



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91 



Twenty-three years ago the first general organization in a 
high school was formed in this city. The movement grew out 
of a need and was started in a small way. At first children put 
in their nickels and dimes to outfit athletic teams, pay for school 
entertainments or finance the school paper. As time went on 
and the activities of the high school became more extensive, it 
began to be the regular thing for each student in many schools 
to pay a small fee into the general organization at the beginning 
of each term. So important is the work of this body that it is 
not uncommon to find that every pupil and teacher in a school 
is a member of the G. O. 

Far-seeing principals have long since recognized an oppor- 
tunity for utilizing this common interest. Pupils are now for- 
mally nominated in primaries and elected by popular vote to 
the offices of the G. O. The attainment of these offices is among 
the highest honors the school body can give to its members. 

Too much credit cannot be given to those teachers who have 
assisted in promoting this subject so that our boys and girls 
might by actual experience learn the ways of doing things in 
truly democratic fashion. 

Few realize the extent of the operations under the manage- 
ment of the G. O. The financial statement which is appended 
shows that these organizations, taken collectively, conduct en- 
terprises which require sums of money aggregating a quarter of 
a million dollars each term and on Jan. 30th, 1920, they were 
capitalized for $143,544.91. The activities which are provided 
for include all forms of athletics, school entertainments, liter- 
ary societies, musical organizations and, in most schools the 
lunch room. Eleven G. O.'s conduct stores, three own moving 
picture machines, one a thirty thousand dollar athletic field, 
eight have large numbers of War Saving Stamps, eighteen own 
government bonds and ten high school orchestras furnish music 
on instruments owned by the G. O.'s. 

It is the general policy of the general organization to make 
no profits and to have no losses at the end of the term. A small 
charge, however, m-ust be made to offset depreciation and carry 
the expense of administering the funds. It has been more diffi- 
cult to accomplish this end for the past two years than previ- 



ously because of the wide fluctuation of prices. It will be seen 
by inspection of the financial statement, however, that these 
organizations are in a healthy condition. Six of them suffered 
slight losses during the fall term 1919, while nineteen show very 
comfortable balances in the profit column ; all but two show net 
profits for the spring term 1920. 

Nothing can be done in the school that will accomplish more 
toward making these young Americans feel that they are a 
part of something big than to encourage them to participate in 
the activities of the school. The elections, the budget making, 
appropriations, expending and auditing funds furnish opportuni- 
ties for training in citizenship and the spirit of fair play which 
are of incalculable value in the lives of boys and girls of high 
school age. 

We thoroughly appreciate the fact that it is our duty to en- 
courage such activities in and around the high school as will 
tend to develop socially efficient graduates and that this can 
be accomplished in no better way than to promote properly 
supervised and well directed student organizations. In order 
that the scope of this work may. be more dearly set forth the 
G. O. activities of Erasmus Hall High School which is typical 
are presented. 

Seven facts seem to stand out as indicative of the methods 
governing the general organizations. 

1. A member of the faculty is identified with each activity. 

2. Appropriations are made only in response to itemized 
budgetry requests. 

3. An executive committee composed of teachers and students 
make appropriations. 

4. No money can be spent except through the purchasing 
agent. 

5. Nominations and elections are carried on by popular vote. 

6. Every athletic committee contains a student representative. 

7. The range of activities is wide enough to invite the inter- 
est of practically every boy and girl in the school. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE GENERAL ORGANIZATION 
ERASMUS HALL HIGH SCHOOL 

Section I. 

1. This Association shall be called the Erasmus Hall Gen- 
eral Organization. 

2. Its purpose shall be, (a) to exercise general supervision 
oVer all clubs, associations, and societies maintained by the 
school; (b) to provide means for their support ; (c) to make, 
through the proper officials, all contracts and agreements be- 
tween them and all other persons, firms, or corporations ; (d) to 
act as collector, custodian, and disburser of all funds, and to 
transact any other business of general interest to the school 
not otherwise provided for. 

3. The clubs, associations, and societies, recognized by the 
Executive Committee and supported by the General Organiza- 
tion -at present are as follows: 



Arista League 
Audubon Society- 
Baseball 
Boys Basketball 
Boys Hockey 
Boys Glee Club 
Boys Swimming Club 

Boys Tennis Club 
Button Contest 
Camera Club 
Cantata Club 

Central Board 
Clothing Account 

(Uniforms) 
Crafts Club 

Chess Club 
Choral Club 
Clio Club 

(Political Sec.) 
Classica Sodalitas 
Cross Country Team 
Entre Nous 

Football 
Garden Club 



Garrick Society 
General Committee 
Girls Basketball 
Girls Hockey 
Girls Sketch Club 
Girls Swimming Club 
Girls Tennis Club 

Girls Suffrage Club 
G. O. Administration 
Gun Club 
Infirmary 

Ice Hockey 
La Crosse 

Mandolin Club 
Monday Club (English) 
Monroe Club (History) 
Natural History Club 
Orchestra 

Ordinates (Geometry) 
Philatelic Society 
Piano Fund 
Public Speaking Club 
Poster Committee 
Purchasing Agent 



"Q" (Quartette) Club 

Radio Club 

Reserve Fund 

Red Cross 

Rifle Club 

Sans Souci 

Senate (Boys Debating 
Club) 

Service Club 

Soccer 

Societas Horatia 

Somerville Club 
(Science) 

Studio Club 

Professional Associa- 
tions 

Track Team 

Travellers Club 

Trustees 

Witan (Girls Debating 

Club) 
Xila (Art) 
X. Y. Z. (Mathematics) 



94 



ARTICLE II 
Section I. 

1. Any student or teacher of Erasmus Hall High School 
may become a member of the General Organization upon pay- 
ment of dues for the current term. 

2. The dues shall be twenty-five cents for each term. 

3. Membership in the General Organization shall exempt 
a person from all initiation fees and dues in any club, associa- 
tion or society maintained by the General Organization. 

ARTICLE HI 
Section I. 

The officers of this Organization shall consist of — 

1. A President, a Vice-President, and a Secretary, chosen 
from the student body as herein provided. 

2. A Treasurer, appointed from the faculty by the Board of 
Trustees. 

3. An Honorary President, selected from the faculty by the 
newly elected officers. 

4. The Principal of the School or, in his absence, the Vice- 
Principal. 

5. A Purchasing Agent, appointed from the facult)^, by the 
Board of Trustees. 

Section II. The duties of officers. 

1. The President shall (a) preside over all meetings of the 
General Organization, (b) serve as Chairman of the Executive 
Committee, (c) preside over the Nominating Convention, (d) 
serve as Chairman of the Board of Elections and (e) serve on 
the Board of Canvassers. 

2. The Vice-President shall (a) become President in case 
the office of the President is vacant, (b) perform the duties of the 
President in his absence, (c) serve on the Board of Elections, 
(d) serve on the Board of Canvassers. 



3. The Secretary shall, (a) keep the records of all meetings 
and elections of the General Organization, (b) serve as secretary 
of the Executive Committee, (c) serve on the Board of Elections, 
(d) serve on the Board of Canvassers. 

4. The Honorary President shall (a) act as the President's 
confidential adviser, (b) perform the duties of the President in 
the absence of both the President and the Vice-President, (c) 
serve on the Board, of Elections, (d) serve as Chairman of the 
Board of Canvassers, and (e) approve bills presented by organ- 
izations recognized by the General Organization. 

5. The Treasurer shall (a) receive all funds of the General 
Organization and keep a record of them, (b) deposit all funds 
of the General Organization in a bank or banks approved by the 
Board of Trustees, and pay all approved bills by check upon such 
banks or bank, (c) make such expenditures as have been duly 
provided for by the Executive Committee or by the Board of 
Trustees, (d) render a report of all funds held by him to the 
Board of Trustees once each term or whenever ordered by them 
to do so. 

G. The Principal, or, in his absence, the Vice-Principal, shall 
(a) appoint the Board of Trustees and act as its chairman, (b) 
order meetings of the General Organization (c) appoint the 
Athletic Committee. He may (d) order special meetings of 
the Executive Committee, and (e) approve or disapprove all 
resolutions of the Executive Committee. 

7. The Purchasing Agent shall (a) make all purchases for 
organizations recognized by the General Organizations, (b) pur- 
chase all school medals approve by the Executive Committee, 
and (c) approve all bills connected with such purchases. 

ARTICLE IV 

The Executive Committee 

Section I. The Executive Committee shall consist of the 
Honorary President and the elected officers of the General Or- 
ganization, and the President or a duly authorized representa- 
tive of each of the organizations supported by the General 
Organization, of whom three shall constitute a quorum. 

96 



Section II. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee — 

1. To decide upon the application of all clubs, associations 
and societies for recognition and support by the General Organ- 
ization. 

2. To pass upon the claims of the several subordinate organ- 
izations and to determine the amount to be appropriated for each 
subject to the approval of the Principal, or, in his absence of the 
Vice-Principal, and limited to the estimated income from the 
dues of the current term. In passing upon appropriations each 
President or representative of a subordinate organization shall 
have a voice and vote only in the appropriation for his own organ- 
ization. 

3. To make further appropriations from all moneys re- 
ceived by the General Organization during the current term. 

4. To appoint any committees, not otherwise provided for 
by this Constitution, for carrying on the business of the General 
Organization. 

ARTICLE V 

The Board of Trustees 

Section I. The Board of Trustees shall consist of the Prin- 
cipal of the School, or, in his absence, the Vice-Principal, the 
President of the General Organization, the Honorary President 
of the General Organization, and three other members of the 
faculty appointed by the Principal, or, in his absence, by the 
Vice-Principal. 

Section II. The duties of the Board of Trustees shall be — 

1. To invest the funds of the General Organization. 

2. To make expenditures when deemed necessary from the 
funds of the General Organization beyond the income and dues 
for the current term. 

3. To appoint managers or committees for athletic, literary, 
dramatic, or other subordinate organizations requiring special 
funds and special management. 



4. To approve or disapprove all contracts made by such 
special managers or committees. 

5. To audit the accounts of all such managers or committees 
each term. 

6. To audit the accounts of the Treasurer of the General 
Organization each term. 

ARTICLE VI 

The Athletic Committee 
Section I. 

1. The Athletic Committee for each term shall consist of 
the General Committee, the faculty manager and the student 
manager of that team. 

2. The Athletic Committee shall supervise all branches of 
athletics recognized by the Executive Committee. 

3. The Athletic Committee shall (a) determine eligibility 
of candidates for membership on school teams, (b) appoint cap- 
tains and managers of school teams, and (c) decide all matters 
relating to the conduct of athletics, subject to the approval of 
the Principal, or, in his absence, the Vice-Principal. 

Section II. 

The Athletic Committee shall have power — 

1. To direct the conduct of all recognized branches of ath- 
letics in the school. 

2. To suspend or remove at its discretion any member of a 
school team. 

3. To provide requirements for the awarding of the school 
letters or other rewards for success in athletics. 

ARTICLE VII 

Appropriations 
Section I. 

1. Each club, association, or society, supported by the Gen- 
eral Organization desiring money for the term shall submit to 



the newly elected Honorary President or the Secretary within 
one week after the election an application in writing, giving in 
detail the uses to which the money is to be applied. 

2. The Executive Committee shall make appropriations, 
not to exceed the estimated income for the term from dues, 
subject to the approval of the Principal, or, in his absence, the 
Vice-Principal. 

ARTICLE VIII 

The Nominating Committee 
Section I. 

1. There shall be held a convention of all members of the 
General Organization in the main school on one of the first four 
Mondays in the term selected by the Principal. 

2. The retiring President shall preside over the convention. 
Section II. The business of the Nominating Convention shall 
be as follows: 

1. Nominations shall be called in the following order: (a) 
President; (b) Vice-President; (c) Secretary. 

2. Any student in the main school may be nominated for 
President, Vice-President, or Secretary, provided he is a mem- 
ber of the General Organization. 

3. Every name put in nomination shall be presented in a 
nominating speech from the platform, followed by one or more 
speeches from the platform seconding the nomination. There 
shall be no nominating or seconding from the floor of the house. 

ARTICLE IX 

The Board of Elections 
Section I. 

1. The Board of Elections shall consist of the President 
(Chairman), the Vice-President, the Secretary, and the Honorary 
President. 

2. Vacancies on this board shall be filled by persons selected 
by the Honorary President. 

99 



Section II. The Board of Elections shall prepare the official 
list of candidates, the official ballots, and the authorized ballot- 
boxes or envelopes, and shall deliver them to the class teachers 
and the supervisor in the office before one o'clock of the day of 
the election. 

ARTICLE X 

The Board of Canvassers 
Section I. 

1. The Board of Canvassers shall consist of the Honorary 
President (Chairman), the President, the Vice-President, and 
the Secretary. 

2. Vacancies on the board shall be filled by persons selected 
by the Honorary President. 

Section II. The Board of Canvassers shall pass upon all ballots 
cast and shall announce the result of the election as provided in 
Article XI, Section II, Sub-division 5. 



ARTICLE XI 

The Election 
Section I. 

1. The election shall be held at 2 :15 p. m. in each class room 
in the main school on the day following- the Nominating Con- 
vention. 

2. All members of the General Organization in the main 
school may vote for President, Vice-President, and Secretary. 

Section II. The order of election shall be as follows: 

1. The teacher of the class shall preside over the election in 
the class room and shall appoint two tellers to assist in distrib- 
uting the ballots and counting the votes. 

2. The Honorary President shall provide a supervisor and 
a teller in the office and supply them with ballots for the votes 
of the teachers not in charge of classes. 

100 



3. Only the ballots and ballot-boxes or envelopes duly pro- 
vided by the Board of Elections shall be used in the election. 

4. When the votes have been counted, all ballots shall be 
placed in the ballot-box or envelope by the class teacher and 
sealed in the presence of the class. The result of the vote of 
the class shall be affixed to the ballot-box or envelope and the 
latter shall be delivered by the teacher to the Board of Can- 
vasses on the stage of the Auditorium as soon after 2 :30 as pos- 
sible. The supervisor of voting in the office shall be similarly 
responsible for the preparation, and delivery of the ballot-box 
or envelope in his charge. 

5. The Board of Canvassers shall canvass the ballots pub- 
licly on the stage of the Auditorium and the Honorary Presi- 
dent, as chairman, shall announce the result as found by grades. 
He shall also declare the final result of the election as soon as 
it shall have been determined. 



ARTICLE XII 

Amendments 

Section I. Amendments to this Constitution may be made at 
any meeting of the General Organization by a two-thirds vote, 
but shall be subject to the approval of the Principal, or, in his 
absence, the Vice-Principal. 



101 



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The lunch rooms of 19 schools are conducted by the General 
Organization ; 4 schools have no lunch rooms and two are oper- 
ated by a concessionaire. 

Here again we have a welfare business enterprise involving 
the handling of approximately half a million dollars ($495,603.00) 
a year and managed by committees of students and teachers. 

Typical Menus in High School Lunch Rooms 

Manual Training High School 
Friday, May 7th 



Clam Chowder 5c 

Baked Mackerel 18c 

Baked Hash 18c 

Codfish Cakes 15c 

Creamed Beef 5c 

Creamed Onions 5c 

String Beans 5c 

Tomato Toast 5c 

Macaroni and Cheese 5c 



Tea Biscuits 5c 

Egg Salad 6c 

Homemade Peach Pudding. . 5c 

Prune Souffle 5c 

Custard 6c 

Floating Island 5c 

Banana Cake 5c 

Ice Cream 5c 

Cocoa 5c 



Wadleigh High School 



Meat Balls 

Mashed Potatoes 

Macaroni 

Baked Beans . . . 

Peas 

Sandwiches 

Rolls and Butter . 



Chocolate Pudding 6c 

Muffins 

Cake 

Bread, one slice 

Fruit 

Cocoa 

Milk 



3c 
5 c 
lc 

5 c 
5c 

5c 



During the past two years of fluctuating it has been most 
difficult to adjust prices so that nourishing food could be sup- 
plied without profit or loss. How readily this has been accom- 
plished is shown in the accompanying tables the perusal of which 
is recommended. 

Average Percentage Costs for All Lunch Rooms 



1 


% Food 


% Labor 


% Manage- 


% General 


i 


Cost 


Cost 


ment 


Expense 


Year 1918 


74.7 


15.6 


5.6 


2.7 


Spring 1919.... 


71.4 


15.8 


5.05 


2.85 


Fall 1919 


73.9 


15. 


4.1 


5.5 


Spring 1920. . . 


69. 


15. 


4.4 


3.5 



Respectfully submitted, 

FRANK A. REXFORD. 



104 



Reports of High Schools for the Year 1919-20 

The Julia Richman High School has submitted an annual 
report of 316 pages which reflects the varied activities of that 
school. This report could well serve as a text for the study of 
the modern high school. I wish it were possible to print the 
entire report for distribution to the high school teachers of the 
City in order that they might come to know something of the 
rich and varied life of this school and realize that it is not a fine 
building but a unified body of teachers with sympathy and 
understanding of the young with high -ideals of service and a 
spirit of investigation, of experimentation and testing that makes 
a great city high school. The report contains such a wealth of 
suggestions, such a record of achievement of the various depart- 
ments that I prefer not to select but rather to ask the principals 
of high schools and other students of educational problems to 
read the report as a whole in my office. I have come to believe 
that the making of such a report by the heads of departments 
to the principal tends to enrich the life of the school. Every 
year several schools send in such reports and they grow increas- 
ingly better. As I read of the experiments being tried out in 
our schools, of the intense interest shown by the teachers in the 
constantly changing problems of our high schools, I feel sure 
that notwithstanding low salaries, poor buildings, crowded 
classes, double sessions and all of the handicaps of the present 
day, our schools are growing better each year. When I read 
that the DeWitt Clinton High School is giving six different 
courses in English to its graduating classes, that in several of 
the larger high schools the pupils have been classified according 
to ability by means of the Otis tests; that content and method 
have been adapted to the varying abilities of these sections that 
pupils are thus able to move at varying rates through the school 
course ; that as a consequent of such classification and adapta- 
tion of means to the needs of the individual pupil the High 
School of Commerce has raised the number of first term pupils 
passing all their work by over one-half, I am led to believe that 
we are at last discovering again the individual in our schools. 
May I especially commend as reflecting this study of individual 
needs the elaborate reports of the DeWitt Clinton High School 

105 



of Commerce, Washington Irving, Erasmus Hall and Bay Ridge 
in addition to Julia Richman. 

The most vital portions of these reports are the sections deal- 
ing with the classification of pupils by means of intelligence 
tests. 

I take pleasure in reproducing here certain sections of the 
valuable report of Principal Zabriskie, of the Washington Irving 
High School: 

Vocational Guidance Service in the Washington Irving High 
School 

We aim in this service to stimulate vocational thinking 
throughout the course and to deal constructively with the educa- 
tional and vocational interests of the girls. 

Obtaining and Recording Information Concerning Vocational 

Plans 

When the girls are admitted to the school from the ele- 
mentary schools they are requested to write answers to these 
questions : 

1. How long do you expect to stay in school? 

2. What occupation do you expect to enter. when you leave 
school ? 

3. Can we help you in any way? 

These replies are sent to me. I examine them and note in 
the scholarship records (for future reference) the occupation that 
the girl expects to enter. 

Interviewing Girls 

I interview immediately any girl who states that she intends 
to stay in school for a shorter period than that required to com- 
plete her chosen course of study. I inquire into the reason for 
this plan. If the girl believes that for economic reasons she 
cannot finish her school course, a careful inquiry is made into 
her home environment and an effort is made to find out the par- 

106 



ents' attitude towards the girl's education: Whether there is 
real economic pressure, whether the parents are anxious for the 
girl to go to school or whether they are indifferent to more edu- 
cation, or whether the girl is getting restless and wants to earn 
money and her parents are yielding to her wish to leave school 
as soon as she has met the requirements of the Compulsory Edu- 
cation Law. If pecuniary assistance appears to be necessary, the 
girl is offered part-time work, providing she is in good health 
and there appears to be no probability that her scholarship will 
suffer through this arrangement; or a scholarship is offered 
through our Students' Loan Fund or through the Henry Street 
Settlement Scholarship Committee. If the parents appear to 
have no interest in High School training for their daughter, an 
interview with one of them is requested so that information may 
be given of the conditions in industry and of the limited oppor- 
tunities for children under sixteen years of age, and of the better 
opportunities for the skilled worker. The parent is told what 
postponing the girl's entrance into industry means in terms of 
health, character and skill and what the material and other re- 
wards of such increased power are. If the girl is pursuing a 
commercial course or a dressmaking course, the parent is given 
information about the "cooperative plan," which will introduce 
the girl into actual business practice in the last half of the third 
year for which work she receives pay as well as an initiatioir'into 
actual business conditions, and experience which will be an asset 
when she goes to her first employment. If the girl herself is 
indifferent to the advantages of High School, if she is lured by 
the business school or by the opportunities for immediate wage- 
earning, an effort is made to stimulate a vocational ambition. 
She is told of the advantage of a general education and adequate 
preparation for wage-earning, not only in a higher initial wage 
but in the number of superior openings available: We attempt 
to make the girl and her parents understand that we aim to give 
not only skill but "right habits, methods and ideals." We 
attempt to make the girl see the relation between their subjects 
of study and their future work. 

1. Sometimes after investigation we find that the economic 
and social environment of the girl is such as to demand a shorter 

107 



course of study than we offer. We aim to direct her into some- 
thing for which she appears to have capacity and interest, and 
she is advised to go to the Manhattan Trade School, to one of 
the shorter commercial courses which our public schools offer, 
or she is given information concerning other courses of training 
in the city. 

2. Those who are undecided as to a choice of occupation are 
interviewed and are told briefly about the vocations for women, 
and are referred to certain books on the subject. They are re- 
quested to come to me later for advice when they have had more 
time to think in terms of their future occupation. 

We aim to reach the physically handicapped child during the 
first term so that girls who are unable to meet the demands of 
their chosen occupation may be advised to prepare for work for 
which they are better suited. 

3. Girls who indicate that they need "help" are interviewed. 
They usually want part-time work or advice about their course 
of study or occupational information. Whatever help they re- 
quire is given. 



The Vocational Guidance Committee of the Henry Street 
Settlement, the Kips Bay neighborhood Association Vocational 
Guidance Committee, and the Vocational Guidance Committee of 
the United Hebrew Charities notify us when pupils in whom they 
are interested in the elementary schools enter Washington 
Irving High School. They cooperate in giving us information 
about the girls, and we in turn help them in their follow-up of 
the girls in high school. 

At the beginning of every term the section advisers are 
asked to send to me any girls who appear to need educational 
or vocational guidance, or for whom some social service may 
seem to be necessary. 

Academic girls in the graduating class who have not decided 
on a vocation are interviewed and advised about the various 
opportunities open to them and the places for further training 
if that is necessary. 

108 



Interviewing Applicants for Discharge in Order to Prevent 
Premature Entrance Into Industry 

It seems to me that a vocational adviser should start in her 
work with the almost sacred obligation to the girls to postpone 
their leaving school as long as possible. The longer childhood 
is prolonged, the more vigor there will be in womanhood. The 
broader her general education, the easier it will be for the girl 
to adjust herself to the demands of her occupation later, and this 
quick adaptation will be reflected in her earning capacity. The 
same procedure is followed with the pupils who apply for dis- 
charge as with the first term pupils mentioned in an earlier 
paragraph. (The deputy principals cooperate in sending these 
girls to me.) In these cases it is particularly necessary to use 
the community resources so that they may be connected with 
the needs of the applicant. The Henry Street Settlement has 
been particularly helpful in providing scholarships for needy 
pupils. The A. I. C. P., the U. H. C, and the U. S. Employment 
Service are some of the outside agencies that have made it possi- 
ble for girls to continue in school, — Many of our girls have 
found it possible to stay in school through the part-time work 
provided by our placement bureau. — Girls who are "tired of 
school" are questioned closely, particularly if their scholarship 
is not good. The cases of failure are carefully investigated and, 
frequently, a girl who was discouraged through failure or through 
misunderstanding or lack of adjustment of school conditions, 
will stay when the situation has been cleared up for her — some- 
times she is without capacity for the work that she expected to 
do, and she is then directed into something within her reach. — If, 
after all these efforts have been made, the girl and her parents 
insist upon her discharge, the girl is not allowed to depart until 
she has been advised as to the opportunities which the city offers 
for further training. — Nearly always the girl who wants to work 
has definite employment in view. If the work appears to offer 
no opportunity for further training or advancement, we advise 
against her taking it and try to place her through our own 
bureau ; or if she has not any position in mind, we try to help her 
to obtain work. She is urged to write to our Placement Bureau 
to let us know about her success in business. 

109 



Vocational Information 

At the request of teachers, usually during the English recita- 
tion periods, I have talked to the girls about various vocations 
for women, about the necessary educational and personal quali- 
fications for the work, the places for further training, oppor- 
tunities for placement, and the material and other rewards. The 
girls have used these talks in their composition work. The aim 
is to stimulate vocational thinking. 

Investigation of Vocational Opportunities 

Through visits to commercial and industrial establishments 
a picture of the industry is obtained so that it may be brought 
vividly to the girls. The questionnaire method has also been 
used in getting vocational information ; e. g., inquiring into 
opportunities in tearooms for girls with domestic science train- 
ing. — Special efforts have been made to get openings for colored 
girls, the girls physically handicapped, and for Jewish Sabbath 
observers who are particularly hard to place in industry. 

Evening Conferences 

I am making an experiment in having an evening office hour 
once a week, for the purpose of interviewing parents who may 
want to talk over plans for their daughters' welfare. It may be 
that at these conferences I may be able to point out the danger 
of allowing their daughters to drift into employment without 
forethought and plan. 

Plans for Next Term 

Next term I hope to have wider contact with the elementary 
schools that send us pupils in large numbers so that the gradu- 
ating classes of such schools as are not reached by vocational 
advisers, may have more definite information not only about our 
courses of study but about the occupations to which they lead. 

A Suggestion 

I feel so strongly the value of this work for the girls and the 
need of vocational and educational guidance in every school, that 

110 



I am presuming to suggest that this plan of work be extended 
so that every high school in this city may have an opportunity 
to offer this service to their students and to reach down to the 
elementary schools that feed them, to the end that their gradu- 
ates may choose their courses of study more carefully. The 
elementary schools especially need vocational service for the 
children who apply for discharge. — I should be glad to help any 
representative of these schools in working out a plan similar to 
ours. I believe that with a careful vocational choice and pro- 
vision for helping children to stay in school, there will be a big 
decrease in "human waste." 

MINNIE KEIL. 

Physical Training in Washington Irving High School 

In my report of 1918 I showed what was being done for the health 
of boys in the DeWitt Clinton High School. This year I submit an ac- 
count of the very vital work for girls done by teachers of physical train- 
ing in the Washington Irving High School. 

Physical Education: — Every student in the Washington Irving High 
School is examined by the school nurse once each term. The examina- 
tion is made in the office of the school nurse, a central, well-lighted room 
having been assigned for her exclusive use by the principal. The assign- 
ments for appointments are made by the physical training teachers, and 
there is direct cooperation between the department and the nurse. 

The nurse makes 

1. Inspection of the girls' heads. * 

2. Examination of the teeth to detect cavities, decayed roots, green 
deposits, tartar,, diseased gums. 

3. Examination of tonsils to discover those that are diseased, enlarged 
or imbedded. 

4. Examination of other glands. 

5. Examination of skin. 

6. Examination for anaemia. 

7. Inspection of eyes (not the vision test by Snellen chart). 

After the initial examination, students whose heads are unclean or 
who have been found to be suffering with any of the above defects are 
required by their physical training teachers to report to the nurse at stated 
intervals. A record is kept of «ach visit and the student's cooperation in 

111 



complying with the nurse's requirements is a factor considered in her 
physical training rating. The emphasis of the work in physical training 
is largely hygenic, emphasis being put upon the practical application of 
the rules of correct living. 

The nurse is on duty at the Washington Irving High School from 
about 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. with the exception of one and one-half hours 
spent at a nearby boys' high school. 

She also takes care of students who become ill in school, and a room 
adjacent to her office has been equipped as a students' sick room. 

The students of the entering class are also, if their parents' consent 
is obtained, examined privately by physical training teachers. Every 
physical training teacher carries on her program as regularly assigned 
work three periods for this work. The examination is made in the 
physical training offices, the separate compartments permitting the utmost 
privacy. The girl is asked to remove her middy blouse. When the back 
is examined, the girl is asked to slip down the underwear so that the ex- 
aminer may have a clear view of the spinal column. An inspection is 
then made of the posture, anteroposterior exaggerations are brought to 
the student's attention and she is taught how to correct her particular 
faults; exercises are assigned; and if the teacher thinks it necessary, the 
girl is sent to one of our corrective classes or to the one at Teachers' 
College, Columbia University. All this is noted on the card. When 
scoliosis is found, the student is assigned to one of the following places: 

1. The class in corrective gymnastics at the new Y. W. C. A. at 53d 
Street and Lexington Avenue, where excellent treatment is given 
for a nominal sum, — fifteen (15) lessons for three dollars ($3.00). 

2. The class in corrective gymnastics, Physical Education Deparlment, 
Teachers' College, Columbia University. Free. 

3. New York Orthopaedic Hospital. Free. 

4. Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled — East 42nd Street. Free. 

5. Hospital for Deformities and Joint Diseases. This clinic very 
kindly consented to take during the morning those of our girls who 
were unable to attend other clinics because they had afternoon ses- 
sion in school. 

All of these clinics and institutions have been visited and the teachers 
of corrective gymnastics interviewed. In all cases we have received 
hearty cooperation. Unusual arrangements are made by the clinics to 
have our girls assigned to certain physicians. 

Where the parents request us, the names and addresses of orthopaedic 
surgeons are given. 

At the suggestion of Miss Alice Morrissey, chairman of the physical 
training department, the Young Women's Christian Association at 53d 
Street and Lexington Avenue, which op^ns a new Normal School of 



Physical Training in September, will organize in connection with this 
school a clinic in corrective gymnastics at an hour to accommodate our 
afternoon session students. The class will be free. This will round out 
the work which has been done at Teachers' College for our morning- 
session students. 

For the first time this term we have been able to have the heart ex- 
amined. Dr. Louise Dithridge of the biology department devoted two 
periods a week to the examination of the hearts of the lA students. 

Number of students examined 4416 

Number of students with unclean heads 1323 

one or more decayed teeth 728 

diseased membranes of the eye 130 

anaemia 156 

goitre 62 

enlarged or diseased tonsils 56 

having eruptions of the skin 42 

Number of lA students examined 1004 

" " " " with poor posture 510 

" " " " with lateral curvature of the spine 175 

" " " " receiving treatment at clinics 101 

" " " sent to Y. W. C. A 42 



Recommendations 

1. That proper provision be made either by the assignment of extra 
teachers or the reduction in the student load to properly handle the 
problem of the detection and correction of physical defects. 

2. That a city-wide campaign be inaugurated to handle the problem 
of pediculosis. The situation is becoming worse. Students come to 
the high schools who give evidence of not having had the proper super- 
vision in this respect. The homes seem inadequate to handle the problem 
and the private agencies that make a business of it do so under most un- 
hygienic and unwholesome conditions. Stations might be opened by 
the Board of Health where free of charge or at a nominal fee, students 
may receive proper treatment. 

The number of cases of pediculosis is much in excess of the number 
reported last year. The increase may be attributed to the unusual ab- 
sence of students because of the influenza epidemic and to a short illness 
of the Department of Health nurse, with the consequent student depriva- 
tion of special inspection and advice. Our statistics show that since 
1914, when approximately 33 1/3 per cent of our students had pediculosis, 
there has been steady progress in the school's condition until this year. 
Letters were sent to principals of elementary schools calling attention 
to the large numbers of entering students with pediculosis, and better 
cooperation has been secured. All the heroic measures taken, however. 



are not sufficient. As a safeguard to students generally, the more serious 
cases of pediculosis are recommended for exclusion from the school by 
the nurse, but the lack of home assistance occasionally makes exclusion 
of doubtful value to the individual concerned. The recommendation, 
therefore, of an effective means of dealing with this whole situation is 
urgently submitted. 

Establishment of Leaders' Classes in Physical Training 

Two hundred to three hundred students have been selected by their 
physical training teachers on the basis of character and personality to 
be trained as squad leaders. These girls will receive in addition to their 
regular physical training work, one period a week of instruction in ad- 
vanced physical training and in methods of teaching and handling a squad. 

In the fall, the entire corps of physical training classes will be or- 
ganized on a squad basis. Every recitation class will be divided into 
groups numbering fifteen students, each under the guidance of one of 
these trained leaders. 

This system, we hope, will result in a more socialized type of physical 
training. The work will be more vital, more interesting, will give oppor- 
tunity for display of initiative and provide situations for bright students 
to exercise leadership. There will be more extensive use of the apparatus 
and greater opportunity to teach games and athletics. It ought to correct 
many of the evils attendant upon the teaching of large groups under one 
teacher who is without assistance; inability to really know individual 
students and the lack of opportunity for students with talent to be given 
advanced work. 



How Washington Irving High School Stimulates Interest in 
Domestic Arts 

The girls in the third year classes have been particularly for- 
tunate this year in having designers of unusual experience and 
talent interested enough to come to the school and meet classes. 
We can collect all the girls of one grade in our room ;!()] where 
we have these special demonstrations. Mrs. Anna Spencer Rior- 
dan, who for several years has been the head of the Klaw & 
Erlanger Costuming Shop, is a graduate of our department. 
She came to us in April and talked to the girls. She told them 
what the opportunities are in the field of costume design and the 
possibilities there were for the young workers. She is much 
interested in our girls and encouraged them to work hard in 
their line of work. She said, "Girls, when I started to work I had 



to work nine and ten hours a day for $7.50 a week and now I 
earn $7,500 a year." Mrs. Riordan offered a prize for the best 
sketch showing an entirely original design that could be used 
for a theatrical costume. All the girls in the 3A and 3B classes 
submitted designs. The prize was awarded to Celia Berick for 
a telephone costume. Eight girls were especially commended 
and given advice about the line of work they seemed most fitted 
for. 

Early in May, Mrs. Wittenberg, head of the firm Alph?stein 
& Wittenberg, manufacturers of high grade dresses for women, 
came with three of her workers. The three girls who came with 
Mrs. Wittenberg are all graduates of our department and are now 
in responsible positions as drapers and designers. Mrs Witten- 
berg wished to show the classes the process of making a dress in 
a manufacturing establishment. In one hour the three girls 
made and draped on a figure a charming dress. It was entirely 
finished with the exception of a few hand stitches. Mrs. Witten- 
berg then designed and draped another dress, showing what the 
designer must do before a dress goes to the hand of the sample 
maker and cutter. It was a great inspiration to all of us. 

Excursions 

All classes have been on excursions, the 2A groups to de- 
partment stores to visit special departments and to observe cer- 
tain garments, the 2B groups to pattern and fashion shops. The 
3A girls were taken to the Metropolitan Art Museum to see 
laces, costumes, pictures, etc. The 3B classes were taken Lo the 
American Art Galleries for some wonderful embroideries, lex- 
tiles, laces, etc. 

Cooperation 

Tn all the many entertainments that are given in the school, 
the sewing girls help more or less with the making of costumes. 
All the odds and ends of sewing, like the making and repairing 
of bands worn by the class officers, come naturally to us. When 
they reach the hundreds we make use of them for tests in speed 
and skill. This we also do every term when we make the 1,000 
cooking caps needed by the domestic science department. 



Dramatic Arts 

The Washington Irving Players, the dramatic club of the 
elocution department, has maintained a continuous existence 
since its organization in 1914. Each term one division of the 
club meets at an hour to accommodate morning session students ; 
the other at a time to accommodate afternoon session students. 
Formerly, each division met at least one period a week; now 
each meets at least two periods a week. The present live regis- 
ter of the club is one hundred and six, forty-six of whom attend 
the morning meeting, and sixty the afternoon. Each division 
has its director, one of the teachers of the department, who gives 
at these general meetings period class instruction in the dramatic 
arts. She also coaches the plays the clubs prepare for public 
presentation, much of such work necessarily being done outside 
the general meeting periods. Among short plays recently 
studied and produced are : "The Foam Maiden," "In Witchcraft 
Days," and "Snow Witch," by C. D. Mackaye ; "Grammar," by 
Labiche, and "Sweethearts," by W. S. Gilbert; among longer 
plays, "Twelfth Night," "Mice and Men," and "The Bird's 
Christmas Carol." 

Dramatics in Evander Childs High School 

Early in the year a committee was appointed to develop and direct the 
work of dramatics. The committee organized the student body mto five 
divisions. There were dramatic organizations formed in the First Year, 
the Second Year, the Third Year, the Seventh Term, and the Eighth Term. 
For each of these organizations there was a sub-committee of teachers 
appointed, which consulted with the student members as to the plays to 
be selected, which held try-outs to determine the players, and which 
coached the acting and managed the production. Dramatic productions 
during the term have been as follows: a. Three invitation performances 
of plays prepared by the Second and by the First Year organizations — 
two performances by the former and one double bill by the latter, b. 
Three assembly performances, one by the Second Year and two by the 
First Year organizations, c. Three plays given as a triple bill (called 
the Festival Plays) on the Dramatics Day of the Dedication Celebration. 
There were three performances of this production. One of the plays 
was given by the Seventh Term organization, and the other two by that 
of the Third Year. d. The Senior Play by the Eighth Term organization, 
and the other two by that of the Third Year. d. The Senior Play by the 
Eighth Term group. There were two performances of this. e. Two per- 

116 



formances of a comic opera produced by the Third Year organization, 
f. A Class play given by the Commercial Seniors. Among these produc- 
tions were Alfred Noyes's "Sherwood," Anatole France's "The Man Who 
Married a Dumb Wife"; W. E. Howell's "The Sleeping Car"; Stuart 
Walker's "Six Who Pass While the Lentils Boil"; Lord Dunsany's "Gol- 
den Doom"; Arthur A. Penn's "Yokohama Maid" (the comic opera), and 
Lady Gregory's "Spreading the News." Aside from the training of the 
players, there was much work to be done in the mechanics^ of the stage 
equipment. The new building was erected without the slightest provision 
for a stage, and the platform is ill adapted to theatrical performances. 
Three teachers from the art and shop departments have performed won- 
ders in providing an artistic stage setting to all the plays. This consists 
of large screens of a neutral tint that can be easily moved, and upon 
which the necessary decorations can be hung. Two of the students have 
worked out the complex electric lighting problems and have made much 
of the equipment. 

An attempt was made by the committee to develop in the students the 
power of studying their own parts, that there might be individuality, 
and that there might be the greatest profit to the student himself. The 
result is that those taking part in the plays have learned not only to 
overcome self-consciousness, to practice team work, and to learn clear 
expression, but they have gained much in the study of literature, and in 
the development of character. 



Economy in Program Making in Evander Childs High School 

Our method of program making has been systemized to such an ex- 
tent that we are able now with very little interruption of school work to 
have every individual program made out and the school started on the 
new term without loss of a single day. Last term, individual programs 
of about sixteen hundred students were completed by a committee of five 
teachers and ten boys in two school days, the Wednesday and Thursday 
of the last week of January. No teacher was taken from his classes or 
other work at any time previous to those days. The result was that the 
term was brought to a successful close with much less interruption of 
regular work than had been possible in the past. 



URGENT MATTERS THAT SHOULD BE MADE THE 

BASIS OF EDUCATIONAL POLICIES FOR THE 

SUCCEEDING YEAR AS SUGGESTED BY 

PRINCIPAL TURNER OF BAY RIDGE 

HIGH SCHOOL 

Current Events 

It was forcibly impressed upon me during our work on the 
World War that what is everybody's business is nobody's busi- 
ness. The result is that unless pupils are taking history with 
some wide-awake, up-to-date teachers they do n6t develop any 
interest in what is happening in the world. I have been wonder- 
ing how a school could best be kept up on Current Events. To 
be sure, a Current Events Club, the English classes and the 
assembly periods are very effective means for doing this work, 
but even at their best they are rather indefinite and unsystema- 
tized. In many schools the members of the History Department, 
although they are interesting teachers and possessed of the facts, 
are not able to give talks in Assembly that are vital. 

W T ould it be possible to attach to the high schools a few fine 
lecturers on Current Events who could, once a month, systemat- 
ically visit the schools and devote one Assembly period to a talk 
on Current Events? This would then be a regular part of the 
year's work, and if we had lecturers as fine as those at the Brook- 
lyn Institute or in some of the Lecture Centers, the pupils would 
all be stimulated and kept up to date. 

Civic Activities 

The recent participation of the pupils of the high schools in 
the various drives has demonstrated that this is one of the very 
best ways to help a girl or boy live in the real world of affairs. 
It would be a calamity to allow the pupils all to slip back into 
the pre-war routine of confining their interests within the four 
walls of the school. Fortunately, in this district the memorial 
to the boys is to take the form of a new hospital, and there will 
be some interest in this community problem for the rest of the 
year. However, it would seem a very wise policy for the educa- 
tional authorities and the members of the various city depart- 

118 



ments to cooperate on the question of city problems for school 
children. Campaigns and drives should be looked upon by the 
schools as wonderful opportunities and welcomed as tasks set 
the schools by the city authorities. If this program could be 
encouraged we would have fewer of the undesirable, isolated, 
selfish citizens in the future. A citizen loves the city which he 
has helped to build. 



Personal Conferences With Graduates of Elementary Schools 

In January, 1919, a Committee on Admissions consisting of 
five teachers was appointed in the Bay Ridge High School whose 
duty it was to interview and get into friendly conferences with 
each applicant from the Elementary School. Through the co- 
operation of the District Superintendents and Principals of the 
Elementary Schools, a schedule was arranged for the 500 appli- 
cants so that each one of them had a personal interview with a 
teacher who could intelligently answer questions in regard to the 
course of study and advise the girls about their work. These 
interviews were given privately so that the girls felt free to talk 
about their plans, their homes, and themselves. A few of the 
girls were accompanied by their parents who added greatly to 
the value of the conference. Some very valuable information 
was gained from these interviews and committed to library 
cards which were placed on file. The committee found about 25 
girls who were simply waiting for their 14th birthday when they 
were going to leave school. These girls were given a modified 
program by which they could get Typewriting and Business 
Practice, Community Civics and English so that they might be 
ready to do something when they dropped out. The report at 
the end of the term is that they have done remarkably well and 
will probably stay through the year. A few girls with artistic 
ability were discovered. Two girls have decided- to prepare for 
medicine ; one wished to prepare as a chemist. Among the others 
were private secretaries, designers, dressmakers, domestic science 
teachers and about 30 teachers. All of this work was done dur- 
ing Regents week and the teachers employed at it were practi- 
cally freed from all other work. This beginning class entering 



January, 1919, seemed to affiliate with the school more quickly 
than other preceding classes, and we feel that the conferences 
were in a way responsible. 



Decrease in Home Study 

The problem of excessive home study has been partially 
solved in our school program by establishing a period a day and 
sometimes two periods a day for study under the direction of 
the subject teacher. This program, which was an experiment, 
has been so satisfactory that we are inclined to look upon it as 
a permanent arrangement. Each period of the day is doubled 
once during the week so that each teacher has each class a double 
period once during the week. This extra period is devoted to 
study by the pupil. This gives the teacher: 

1. An opportunity at least once a week to privately help absent or 
backward pupils; 

2. An opportunity to ascertain whether her assignments are too long 
or too short; 

3. An opportunity to direct the method of the pupils study. 

For the average normal girl it means that the subject is fin- 
ished for the day and that no home work is expected to be done. 
The average girl carries four prepared subjects, and outside of 
the double periods has from two to five study periods in school. 
If each subject teacher assigns 45 minutes home study, an 
average of 4.45 or 3 hours would be the study time out of class 
required. The following arrangement reduces it from one and 
one-half hours to two and one-quarter hours a day. 



120 



Mon. 


Tues. 


Wed. 


Thurs. 


Fri. 


Period Class Pan 


Class Rm 


Class Rm Class Rm Class Rm 


8:54- 9:34 1 


English 


1 English 


1 English 


1 English 


1 English 


9:38-10:18 1 


English 


2 History 


2 History 


2 History 


2 History 


10:22-11^)2 2 


History 


2 History 


3P.T. 


3P.T. 


3P.T. 


11:06-11:46 3 


P. T. 


3 P. T. 


3P.T. 


4Assembly 


4 French 


11:46-12:21 


LUNCH 
French 






4 French 




12:25- 1:05 4 


4 French 


4 French 


4 French 


1:09- 1:49 5 




5 


5 Drawing 

6 Science 


5 


5 


1:53- 2:33 6 


Science 


5 Drawing 


6 Science 


6 Science 


2:37- 3:17 




6 Science 




6 Science 










English 




English 


Average Home 


History 


English 


French 


English 


History 


Study % hr. 


Science 


Science 


Science 


History 


Science 


per subject. . 


iy 2 hr. 


V/ 2 hr. 


2% hr. 


iy 2 hr. 


iy 2 hr. 



Stenography in the First Year — Morris High School 

For some years an experiment has been conducted in the 
Morris High School of giving stenography to first term students 
in the three years commercial course. These students have been 
given ten periods a week of stenography and typewriting. As 
the wisdom of giving this course has been questioned by teachers 
in other schools, I made inquiry on June 23d of Principal Bogart, 
of Morris High School, and of the first assistant who was in 
charge of this work, and I have received the following reports 
which, based on several years experience, bear out the conclu- 
sions to which teachers of stenography in this city have gener- 
ally come. 

Principal Bogart reports : "At a joint conference of the Com- 
mercial Department and the Department of Stenography and 
Typewriting, it was the consensus of opinion that stenography 
is best deferred until the second year. Typewriting may well 
be given in the first year. Our experience this term confirms 
our decision." 

Miss E. M. Hagar, now of Theodore Roosevelt High School, 
formerly chairman of the stenography department of Morris High 
School, thus writes: 



"In the matter of teaching shorthand to first term students 
four years' experience with that experiment determines that I 
advise against it. 

"The students who have six terms of shorthand undoubtedly 
know more of it than those who have four, but they cannot do 
enough better work to justify the devotion of an entire year to it. 
The student in the first year is too immature, too unfamiliar with 
methods of study and application, and too deficient in English 
to accomplish anything like as much as second year students. 
To get even such results as we have from them, we have had to 
work them much too hard. It seems apparent that more stu- 
dents leave school because of the difficulty to them of the subject, 
than are kept in school because they wish to learn shorthand in 
that year. 

"In my judgment, it would be wiser to postpone the study of 
shorthand, not only to the second term, but to the second year." 

In view of this testimony which confirms the results of earlier 
investigations, I recommend that stenography be not given in 
the first term. The difficulty does not lie with stenography but 
in the pupils' lack of English. It is hoped that predetermination 
tests may be devised which shall serve to eliminate certain stu- 
dents who are incapable of successfully studying stenography. 
At present we are wasting many thousands of dollars in en- 
rolling in stenography classes children who by reason of physical 
defects, deficient personality, or lack of command of English, 
can never hope to become acceptable stenographers. Because 
of the presence of such pupils in stenography classes we are com- 
pelling the other students to take from one-third to one-half 
more time for their preparation than is really required. Princi- 
pals should make every effort to prevent this waste which is now 
so common. 

Boys' High School 

To maintain the standard of the school in matters of schol- 
arship has been our chief aim during the year just closing. . This 
effort it seems has been successful, in spite of the fact that we 
have employed a great many inexperienced substitutes in the 
places of men in war service. This success has been brought 

122 



about in a large measure because of the fact that Chairmen of 
the Departments and myself have spent an unusual amount of 
the time in classrooms and in helping younger teachers to 
strengthen themselves in their work. 

Special effort, too, has been made throughout the year to help 
the weak boy by classifying him properly and by then "giving him 
instruction out of school hours. Chairmen often accomplished 
much for the slower students by personal conferences and in 
many cases by re-arranging schedules of individuals, dropping 
a subject here, doubling there, and in general making sure that 
no boy was attempting more than he could do well. 

It has been our avowed purpose that in each recitation there 
should be careful and definite instruction concerning the lesson 
for next day, so that the pupil could study by himself to advan- 
tage, and could properly be held accountable for adequate prep- 
aration. We insist that from ten to fifteen minutes be spent in 
each period in what might be called "supervised study of the 
new assignment." In this valuable work, we have made a real 
advance. 

Principal Janes reports the following definite plans for 
carrying out these aims for the coming year. 

The great problem in this school is not so much how to turn 
out scholars but rather how to establish habits of politeness, 
courtesy and gentlemanliness. In these days of change and 
unrest, there is a growing feeling of freedom and chafing against 
restraint, which must be checked if the boys of today are to be 
law-abiding citizens of tomorrow. Parental control is function- 
ing less and less, with the result- that a greater and greater bur- 
den is being thrown upon the school. Parents seem to be losing 
their power to control their children, and are prone to throw up 
their hands in despair when told that the school looks to them 
for help. This condition necessitates the employment of every 
means possible to make a constructive contribution toward 
arousing social consciousness. To meet this need, we have 
attempted a spirit of cooperation between students and teachers 
by the encouragement of outside activities, by taking the stu- 
dent body into our confidence when instituting changes, by the 
rather extensive use of students in school government through 

123 



our Service Club and through our allied activities (G. O.), of 
which every boy and teacher is this year a member, for the first 
time in our history. 

To counteract the spirit of social unrest, we have worked 
through our Uncle Sam Association, originated and controlled 
entirely by students, which has a membership of 99^2 per cent 
of the student body, who have voluntarily and without coercion 
consented to the following pledge : 

1. To respect and reverence my country's flag as the symbol of lib- 
erty and order. 

2. To support and maintain in every possible way the constitution 

and laws of the United States and the State of New York. 

3. To uphold in every way possible to me, by word and deed, the 
President, Congress, and the Courts of the United States, the Army 
and Navy, and all legal authorities. 

4. To endeavor by every possible means to emulate the examples of 
self-sacrifice and service set by those who founded and those who 
maintained and are maintaining our Nation. 

II. Plans for Further Progress 

For next year, we plan through a committee which is now 
working out the details, to apply to a considerable extent certain 
efficiency tests, by which we hope, for instance, to be able to 
discover just where a boy's weakness or strength lies, for exam- 
ple in third year Latin, whether it be in syntax, in forms or in 
vocabulary. If it is possible to state and apply proper tests for 
reading and arithmetic in the lower grades, it seems certain 
that the same can be done for Algebra and Latin. We propose 
to work for certain definite aims. To decide just what abilities 
a pupil should have at a given stage, and then measure individual 
accomplishment by properly prepared tests. 

We shall also carry into effect much more generally a plan 
for adjustment of boys into slower and faster sections. The pro- 
gram for next term is now being made with this end in view. 
Fortunately, this can be done to the best advantage in the lower 
classes in which there are a large number of sections and where 
the need is greatest. For entering boys, we shall proceed on 
something like the following plan : 

124 



1. At the beginning of the term ask teacher to note especially the 
ability of the boys. 

2. At the first report, have teachers group boys according to their 
ability to continue the subject. 

Then adjust programs so as to form class of the same ability. 

3. At the end of the term ask teachers their opinions, with reasons, of 
the value of the general principal of adjustment, and their sugges- 
tions for any modification of the plan. 

4. During the term keep detailed record of reasons for discharges. At 
the end try to determine what percentage left because of some misfit. 



A School Paper That Pays — An Example of Skillful Manage- 
ment and Wise Use of Pupils 

The monthly magazine published by the students of the Com- 
mercial High School, is called "The Ledger." It has existed for 
fourteen years. It is carried on by a Board of Students with the 
assistance of a faculty adviser. Month after month it has 
brought out a bright, interesting magazine which is eagerly pur- 
chased by the pupils. The circulation averages 90 per cent of 
the entire student body. 

Financially, the magazine, "The Ledger" not only supports 
itself but produces a very neat revenue. Some years ago the 
management of the school paper conceived the idea of beautifying 
the school building by means of pictures placed in various halls. 
About two years ago they undertook a very ambitious task, 
namely, that of placing in the auditorium two large mural paint- 
ings. These paintings are each 16x18 feet, representing "An- 
cient Commerce" and "Modern Commerce." The cost of these 
paintings runs into thousands of dollars, but nearly all of the 
money was furnished from the profits of the school paper. These 
pictures now adorn the walls of the assembly hall and are a 
source of pride and satisfaction to all connected with the school. 

Pupils Like Real Work 

Last fall we conceived the idea of having the boys in the shop 
do real work. Instead of making various arbitrary articles as 
prescribed in a course, pupils under the direction of a shop 

125 



teacher make needed repairs to the furniture about the school 
building and make for the school various things needed. For 
illustration— when school opened last fall, there were about 
four hundred broken seats in our auditorium. It seemed im- 
possible to get repairs made through the usual channels and our 
shop. boys undertook the task and have put the auditorium in 
perfect order and have kept it so throughout the year. 

The boys' lunchroom has for several years past very much 
needed additional tables. Our boys of the shop this term have 
made forty large tables for this dining room, which are now 
used and add immeasurably to the good service of the lunch- 
room. 

These are but illustrations of some scores of "jobs" that the 
boys have undertaken and carried through successfully. 

The best part of it all is the great convenience to the 
school in having this work done, and the actual saving of more 
than a thousand dollars of expense to the city. The best result 
of this work has been the entire change of attitude towards shop 
work. No group of boys in the entire school has been more 
enthusiastic or happier in its work. All boys who complete a 
piece of real work and get a good grade on it from their teacher, 
are as proud as little kings, and they feel that that part of the 
school is really their own, for they "made it." 



The Scholarship Drive of Curtis High School 

In May, 1918, after the very successful Third Liberty Loan 
Campaign, it was suggested that we capitalize the interest and 
enthusiasm aroused in this drive by launching at once a so- 
called Scholarship Drive. The plan was to make the drive more 
or less a competition for the individual, for the room as a unit, 
and for the Class (Year) as a unit. Accordingly the plan pro- 
vided for three types of honors : 

(a) The individual honor. To describe this it is first neces- 
sary to describe what is meant by the Honor Roll in this school. 
To have his name on the Honor Roll a pupil must comply with 

the following conditions : . 



1. A pupil must have failed in no subject. 

2. Unprepared subjects are not to be counted. 

3. Except during the last year, only those subjects may be 
included for which school points have not already been received. 
During the last year in school, a subject repeated with the con- 
sent of the grade adviser may be counted for the actual number 
of periods on the pupil's program, e. g., if a senior is in a IB 
Biology class three periods a week, IB Biology may be weighted 
as a three period subject only. 

4. (A) If a pupil is taking eighteen hours or more of pre- 
pared work he must have an average of at least 80% in his best 
18 hours. 

(B) If, with the consent of the grade adviser, a pupil is tak- 
ing fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen hours of prepared work and 
no more, he must have an average of 85% in his best 15 hours. 

As the individual honor, at the end of each term a certificate 
is presented to that pupil who shall have obtained the highest 
place on the Honor Holl. 

Academic Honor Rooms. — The basis for this computation 
is as follows: If a room contains 40 pupils, and each, pupil is 
carrying four prepared subjects, the aggregate number of pre- 
pared subjects in that room is 160. If, at the end of the term, 
144 of these prepared subjects are passed by the room as a : whole, 
the percentage for that room is 144-^160, or 90%. At the end of 
each term there is placed in the front hallway a roll of the 
"Academic Honor Rooms." The list for term ending January, 
1919, is given below: 

Academic Honor Rooms 
Academic Honor Rooms — January, 1919 

206 98.3% 1919 107 93.8% ...1919 

105 96.3% 1919 210 91.2% .1920 

108 95.7% 1919 110 91.1% 1921 

Aud. 1 94.3% 1921 209 90.6% 1922 

104 90.5% 1921 



We find that this is creating a great deal of interest. A sin- 
gle additional subject passed by a single pupil may change the 
position of that room on this honor roll. It therefore affords a 
strong incentive for the better pupils in the room to help the 
weaker ones. 

The Special Honor Roll. — Beginning June, 1918, and each 
year thereafter, the names of those gradutes who have been on 
the Honor Roll each term during their course, or at least eight 
terms during the four years' course, or six terms during the three 
years' course shall be placed upon a tablet which is to be hung 
in some conspicuous place in the building. In order to obtain 
this honor a student must have taken all of his work in Curtis 
High School. 



EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENTS TRIED AT 
STUYVESANT 

A Reform in First Year Mathematics 

Developed by Mr. William E. Breckenridge, Chairman 

For the past three years Stuyvesant High School has been 
using for the first four terms a course radically different from the 
old established arrangement of a year of algebra followed by a 
year of geometry. 

The controlling aim of the new course is : To give the pupil 
the mathematics that is best for him, whatever the length of his 
school course may turn out to be. This means making provi- 
sion for the boy who may remain in school only ten weeks, 
giving him what he needs most, and at the same time not neg- 
lecting the proper training of the boy who will enter college 
with advanced mathematics. Moreover, it is desirable that these 
two boys be taught in a single course rather than in separate 
courses, since the former boy may be persuaded to continue in 
school until he graduates. 

Suppose a pupil can only remain in school ten weeks. What 
mathematics can we give him that will be of most value to him ? 
If he leaves school artd goes to work, he may desire to go to an 
evening school and study mechanics or physics. He may desire 

128 



to read a mechanic's handbook and to know how to use the for- 
mulas in his daily work. Whatever he may do for a living, he 
will find it very useful to know how to use the practical parts of 
elementary mathematics. This includes: 

1. The ability to make a formula, use it, solve it for any letter, and 
interpret the result; 

2. The knowledge of how to measure ordinary plane and solid geo- 
metrical figures; 

3. Practice in computation including the checking of all operations, 
until reasonable accuracy is secured; 

4. A natural introduction to algebraic work through the motivation 
of the real problem; 

5. Preparation for demonstrative geometry through familiarity with 
the material of the subject found in the mensuration of practical 
problems. 

The method of work is the project plan. A graded series of 
real problems captures the interest of the pupil at the start and 
holds it throughout the course. From the first lesson in which 
the boy measures the height of the room in which he is sitting, 
by the use of a simple isosceles right triangle cut out of paste- 
board, and in which he makes his own formula, to the more diffi- 
cult problem of laying out a baseball diamond, involving a quad- 
ratic equation, the growth in correct mathematical habits is 
rapid and the student's interest in doing things at the same time 
that he is learning to use letters as numbers is much greater 
than under the old method. 

The problems used are of such general nature that they can 
easily be taught in any type of high school or in the last year of 
the Junior High School. At the end of ten weeks the student 
has completed all of the mathematics that can be justified on the 
ground of general practical utility. The next best thing has 
seemed to be an extended ability to use the equation in concrete 
problems. Hence the second len weeks is devoted to the equa- 
tions of elementary algebra with applications to concrete prob- 
lems through quadratics, omitting most of factoring, and frac- 
tions, fractional and negative exponents, and most of radicals. 

For the second term, plane geometry with its training in forms 
of reasoning seemed more useful than the abstract part of the 
i 

129 



algebra. Hence this term is devoted to demonstrative geometry. 
In term three, geometry is finished and the Regents' examination 
passed. Term four is used in completing elementary algebra 
including the Regents' examination. Beyond term four, math- 
ematics is elective, including the usual subjects required for 
colleges, and a course in surveying. 

The results of this course may be summarized as follows : 

1. There is much more mathematical insight and joy in the work 
than by the old method. 

2. From a series of real problems properly organized, better training 
can be secured than from the ordinary abstract algebra. 

3. The Stuyvesant Plan is an easy and natural method of introducing 
the pupil to the use of letters as numbers in algebra. 

4. It is safe as far as Regents' examinations are concerned, as our 
records show. 

5. It is gratifying to find that our course has been adopted by a promi- 
nent committee on the Junior High School as the best course for 
the ninth school year. 

6. It is an earnest attempt to make mathematics of most service to 
the largest number of pupils. 



A COURSE IN SHIP DESIGN 

Developed by Mr. A. H. Brenzinger, 

Naval Architect and Instructor in Charge of the Class 

In outlining our course in Ship Design, we have tried to make 
it as interesting as instructive. The first drawings are of a 
twelve-foot sailing dinghy. The drawings and calculations in- 
clude all those required for a larger vessel, and, therefore, by 
the time we reach the problems of larger ships at the end of the 
term, the difficulties are all smoothed out and things go easy. 

Aside from the development of ship lines and construction, 
we have taken up the drawing of certain details such as a stern 
frame for a one hundred foot tug. This gives the boys a very 
practical sample of shipyard practice. 

130 



Then the problem of finding the center of gravity, as we 
have to do in drawing the ship, puts into practice, we have found, 
the knowledge acquired in the Physics Department such as that 
pertaining to levers, to moments, etc. 

The boys also make models of the ships they design, some 
fine specimens having been produced. 

We find that the interest taken in this course is quite re- 
markable. Many boys make a considerable sacrifice in order to 
take advantage of the course. Also the results are very gratify- 
ing. Most of the members of the class are determined to follow 
ship design as a profession. Many of the boys have taken posi- 
tions in various ship yards and in offices of naval architects. 
Two of the boys are taking a course in Naval Architecture at 
the Lehigh Unixersity, and about a dozen are planning to enter 
Webb Ship Academy, next September. 



Preparation in English of High School Pupils Intending to 
Teach 

At the suggestion of the principals of the training schools, 
Associate Superintendent Straubenmuller and myself appointed 
a committee composed of representatives of both the high schools 
and the training schools to prepare a plan for the preparation in 
English of pupils planning to teach. This committee consists 
of Miss Angela M. Keyes, Miss Edith Fowler and Mr. Rowland 
S. Keyser of the training schools and the Misses Maude M. Frank 
and Helen M. Cohen of the high schools, and after many sessions 
together has prepared a report which contains many construc- 
tive suggestions for the improvement of the English work of the 
high schools, As . these suggestions would be of value to all 
students and their teachers not merely to those intending to 
teach, I recommend the inclusion of this report in the annual 
report. 

The committee of teachers of English in high and training 
schools "appointed to study the whole subject of the preparation 
in English of high school students intending to teach" respect- 
fully submits its report. 



Oral English 

Voices and Speech. — The students should be afforded more 
adequate opportunity to develop and maintain a better quality 
and use of the speaking voice and a better standard of speech. 

It is not merely that beauty or finish of speech in students 
entering the training school is rare, but that there is scarcely 
any substantial evidence of cultivation in speech. In many stu- 
dents the voice is thin, flat, strident, or nasal, and the speech of 
most students is incorrect and crude. The speech of some en- 
trants exhibits marked organic defect, and of a considerable 
number of others, pronounced foreign accent. 

If the elementary schools are to give, as they should, impetus 
and direction to the country wide movement for a better national 
speech, the teachers must be enabled by adequate speech train- 
ing in their formative years, which include the high school period, 
to take with them into the classroom better voice and speech 
habit. 

There is, besides, a more immediate and fundamental reason 
for equipping strongly in voice and speech the elementary 
school teachers of polyglot New York City, the maintenance of 
English speech itself. In this connection it is pertinent to ask 
how the obligation of the schools to Americanize the speech of 
the thousands of children of foreign language home environment 
in the elementary schools of New York City can be reconciled 
with admitting to the training schools for teachers applicants 
whose own speech is foreign in idiom and accent? 

It is not, however, only students with foreign accent or with 
oral organic defect who are below the desired standards in 
speech. 

In view of the limited opportunity now afforded, the state of 
affairs in speech is not surprising. In many of the high schools, 
work in voice and speech is confined to the first year, with an 
option in public speaking in the fourth. In spite of the desire 
and effort of the teacher, it can amount to little more than call- 
ing attention to this or that single gross error. It is true that, 
thanks to Dr. Straubenmuller's action in issuing High School 
Circular No. 6, 1917-1918, recommending that oral English be 



taught at least one period weekly throughout the high school 
course, oral work in English has a place also in the second and 
third years. In many schools it takes, in these years, chiefly the 
form of oral composition — of which there could hardly be too 
much — with attention centered primarily on content and con- 
struction, as it should be, but with practically no advantage 
taken of the student's strong oral motive, in this everyday form 
of communication, for continuous and progressive training in 
voice and speech. 

A great deal more voice work should be done as foundation 
work in speech, and there should be more definite determination 
of the sounds in English, vowel and consonant, with more op- 
portunity for habituation in their correct utterance ; the work in 
voice and speech to be tested functionally, or in genuine oral 
communication. More attention should be given also to oral 
syllabication and word transition, also to pronunciation. 

To the end that more adequate opportunity to develop and 
maintain a better quality and use of the speaking voice and a 
better standard of speech be afforded the students, the committee 
recommends : 

1. That the work in voice and speech be placed on at least as substan- 
tial a basis as that indicated by the general conception of oral English in 
the accepted syllabus in oral English: that it be constructive, rather than 
merely corrective, though correction should be given full place, and that 
it be progressive and continuous throughout the high school course. 

2. That teachers of English desiring to pursue, at convenient centers, 
a year's approved course in oral English, be enabled, by special provision 
in their teaching schedules, to do so. 

3. That points 1, 2, and 4 of High School Circular No. 6, 1917-1918, 
quoted here as (1), (2) and (4), respectively, be more effectively carried 
out: 

(1) "Oral English should be considered a 'prepared subject' in 
all high schools and should be rated as such." 

(2) "Marked proficiency in oral English should receive at least 
as much credit as is given for marked oral ability in French, Ger- 
man, Spanish, etc." 

(3) "Serious deficiency in oral English should affect a pupil's 
promotion and graduation as does serious deficiency in other sub- 
jects." 



In testing proficiency the committee urges the functional 
standard. The entire training in voice and speech should take 
its- motive from and find its application in the various forms of 
oral communication — the conversation, sustained oral presenta- 
tion of a topic, oral reading, recitation of memorable prose and 
poetry, dramatics, public speaking. 

The committee recommends further : 

4. That students whose voice or speech exhibits symptoms of organic 
defect be referred to the Department of Speech Improvement early. 

5. That special classes be formed and regularly scheduled for students 
with foreign accent, in which classes the student should be trained to 
hear the quality, rhythm, and constituent sounds of English, and to se- 
cure the proper adjustment and control of the voice and speech mechan- 
ism for English speech, and to master English idiom. 

6. That the practice of admitting to the training school students con- 
dition in oral English be discontinued, as (1) undermining the effort of 
the high school to maintain passing standards, (2) misleading the teach- 
ing aspirant, who finds the training school period too late, too short, 
and too filled with its own tasks to make removal of the condition a cer- 
tainty, and (3) minimizing inconsistently at the outset a phase of teach- 
ing equipment that confronts a teacher at every attempted step of pro- 
fessional progress. 

Oral Composition 

In most of the high schools inhibiting formalism is disap- 
pearing, and the students are expressing themselves with consid- 
erable freedom. That the freedom may develop into real power 
over thought and its effective communication, that is, into true 
oral paragraph or brief whole composition ability, and not into 
a habit of superficial glibness or rambling pointlessness, the com- 
mittee recommends: 

7. That in the work in oral composition more attention be given to 
selection of topic and to application of the principles of unity, coherence, 
effective arrangement, paragraph and sentence articulation, and to the 
appropriate choice of words. 

Students entering the training school should show ability to 
sustain on their feet a topic of personal or current interest, 
applying in the communication the principles of voice and speech 
and the principles of construction and diction. 

134 



Oral Reading, Dramatics, Public Speaking 

The committee recommends: 

8. That in the organization of work in oral English more opportunity- 
be afforded for oral reading, dramatics, and public speaking. 

Oral Reading. — While it is true that silent reading plays a 
larger part in life than does oral reading, there is a place for the 
oral art. At present oral reading is neglected in many of the 
high schools. Training in oral reading has genuine motive in 
the student's social desire to share with his neighbor interesting 
news in the paper or entertaining matter in magazine or book 
by reading it aloud, with intent to "get it over" without loss, or 
his need to amplify or point the oral presentation of a topic in 
any subject by reading aloud pertinent matter from references, 
or, in the case of a book review, illustrative matter from the book 
itself. 

The committee would not magnify the place of oral reading, 
nor substitute oral reading, nor substitute oral reading for the 
more direct form of oral communication, speaking, but it depre- 
cated its neglect; it has its place in life, and therefore should 
have its place in school. 

Students entering training school should show ability to "get 
over" the thought, humor, pathos, beauty, or whatever the con- 
tent of the matter to be read, the matter to be selected with due 
reference to the student's own intellectual and emotional 
experience. 

Dramatics. — The committee strongly urges recognition that 
as real appreciation of much poetry depends on actually oralizing 
it, so genuine appreciation of most dramatic literature depends 
on participation in playing it. Training in such participation, 
like training in recitation of poetry, should therefore be made 
an integral part of the work in English. 

The resulting gain, moreover, in breadth of view, from the 
vicarious experience of many personalities, afforded by imper- 
sonation of them, the gain in physical ease and grace, oral com- 
mand, command of self-consciousness, are extremely valuable to 
the prospective teacher. 



Public Speaking. — Study of public speaking has a similar 
intimate relation to appreciation of the speeches and addresses 
of literature and is therefore also an integral part of the work in 
English ; it also has for the prospective teacher similar beneficial 
by-products. The immediate bearing of training in public 
speaking on the prospective teacher's equipment for school or 
community service is obvious. 



Written English 

Written Composition. — The time given to written composi- 
tion should be the equivalent of at least one period weekly 
throughout the high school course. 

Students entering the training school should show ability to 
write a brief whole composition, at least a page long, on an in- 
forming or entertaining subject related to their knowledge or 
experience, or an interesting letter in accepted social form ; ap- 
plying the principles of construction and diction, and exhibiting 
literacy in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammatical 
usage. 

Word Study 

The committee recommends : 

9. That to afford the students needed opportunity to develop "word 
conscience" and a more adequate vocabulary, a course in word study be 
given in the third year. 

The committee submits a suggested syllabus for the course : 
Syllabus in Word Study 

Story of the Language. General characteristics in form and use 
of typical words from the basic and chief contributing sources of 
the English vocabulary. Study of word composition: common 
stems, prefixes, and suffixes, literal and typical applied meanings 
of the words analyzed; functional application of students' work in 
word composition to their study and use of words. 

Study of the chief characteristics of English spelling, the more 
useful rules of inflection, commonly called the rules of spelling; 
habituation in functional application of facts observed and rules 
formulated. 



Training in the intelligent use of the dictionary, including 
habituating the students in consulting the dictionary at need. (Stu- 
dents should be held responsible for mispronunciations or misspel- 
lings they might have avoided by recourse to the dictionary.) 

Study of common synonyms, with functional training in their 
discriminating use in both oral and written communication of 
thought. Study and use of antonyms, and of their means, or 
words of middle position in meaning. 

Study of the appropriate use of words, functional application 
to appreciating the force of the words in texts with which the stu- 
dents are dealing and to the students' own use of words in oral 
and written communication. 

Throughout the work, systematic training in the acquisition 
of vocabulary. y : 

The committee would urge attention to the nice use of nouns 
and verbs, as well as of qualifying words. It would call atten- 
tion also to the weakening effect on students' vocabularies of 
requiring students, as evidence that they have the lesson, to 
avoid' the words of the text. Some teachers, all subjects, carry 
this so far as to prevent normal acquisition of vocabulary. 

It may be well to note here also that words in themselves do 
not formalize nor obscure thought; on the contrary, they help 
to free it. Nor are they difficult when they represent live ideas. 
Newspaper accounts of the Great War bristled with the vocabu- 
lary of warfare. The least schooled reader or auditor accepted 
and used the terms as the coin of currency for the communica- 
tion of warfare ideas. 

The committee is not urging the virtue of terms as such, only 
pointing out the inconsistency of the repeated demand on the 
student that he increase his vocabulary, and yet not take ad- 
vantage of one of the most copious and usual sources of increase. 

Grammar 

Many students entering the training school show real defi- 
ciency in grammar. They fail, for example, to recognize any 
copula other than to be, and consequently to give the correct 
syntax of the completing element, mechanically disposing of it 
as adverbial. The committee has no intention of making recog- 
nition of this particular element the test of knowledge of gram- 

137 



mar, but it would emphasize that such failure reveals funda- 
mental unfamiliarity with the language and lack of perception 
of the relation between the grammatical syntax of an element 
and the meaning of the sentence. Again, many entering stu- 
dents habitually violate grammatical usage. 

The work in grammar should be determined and standard- 
ized from the functional viewpoint and should then be given the 
time and attention it needs. 

Students entering the training school should know the ele- 
ments of the sentence, as the typical English sentence is found in 
poetry as well as in prose, the syntax of the elements, their posi- 
tion and punctuation, and should show ability to construct sen- 
tences grammatically, orally and in writing; they should exhibit 
habitual literacy in grammatical usage orally and in writing. 



Reading Courses in Literature 

The committee recommends : 

10. That to afford the students opportunity for wider acquaintance 
with books, and for forming the habit of reading and a taste for de- 
sirable reading, reading courses be given as regularly credited options, 
or, better, electives, in the third and fourth years, the material to be taken 
from the high school reading lists, with, if necessary, equivalent addi- 
tions, i not, as a rule, duplicating any material covered in the required 
courses in literature. 



Scrutiny of various types of school program shows that the 
students might add to their electives an English elective without 
in any way jeopardizing their diplomas. In fact the state spe- 
cialist in English at Albany is formulating with a committee of 
teachers from various parts of the state a number of English 
electives to be offered to all students in the four-year academic 
course. The present intention of this committee is to begin with 
an elective in American literature and in types of patriotic 
service. 

Elective courses in English have especial value for intending 
teachers who begin their professional training immediately upon 
the completion of their high school course. Broadening cultural 

138 



courses in English would enlarge their mental and imaginative 
horizon, as well as add to their professional equipment in 
English. t 

At least two New York City high schools are offering or 
developing electives in English of this type. In one school a 
course in Shakespeare, the material, twenty selected plays, has 
been prepared and is to be offered in the fall. The other school 
is giving a course in contemporary literature, which includes four 
plays, three novels, a series of poems by the greatest of the con- 
temporary poets, two biographies, and several war books. This 
second school offers also a library English course in general lit- 
erature, which studies representative selections from the great 
masterpieces of the world's literature. This course might be 
amplified for training school intendants. Other courses suitable 
are electives suggested in a recent state syllabus, courses in 
types of literature, the essay, the novel, etc., and courses in 
biography. 

A very desirable elective for training school intendants wbuld 
be a special course in dramatics. The advantages of work of 
this kind for training school intendants have already been indi- 
cated. In view of the importance of these advantages, the com- 
mittee urges that high school students intending to teach be 
given opportunity to include in their program a class : in 
dramatics. 

Electives in English carrying state credit will commend them- 
selves without doubt, to training school intendants. The high 
schools should not, however, delay in formulating electives 
should not the state courses be forthcoming at once and should 
urge high school students to avail themselves of the additional 
work in English on the basis of school credit if no other can be 
obtained. 

Allotment of Time 

There seems to be some difference of opinion among high 
school principals on the question whether the new requirement 
that oral English be taught at least one period weekly calls for 
an additional period of work in English or whether the weekly 
period should be taken from the time already allotted to English. 

139 



Some principals compromise by giving five periods to English 
for half the course and four for the other ; one gives six periods 
the first year, and four, each of the others ; some, including prin- 
cipals of large high schools, give five periods throughout. 

The committee would urge a conviction rooted in experience 
that five periods is the least amount of time that should be given 
to English. The ground to be covered is so extensive, so much 
of the work is formation of habit, for which time is essential, so 
many of the students come to the subject handicapped by illiter- 
ate or foreign heritage, that the work in English presents prob- 
lems of unusual difficulty. The educational obligation to Amer- 
icanize the foreign youth devolves largely on the teachers of 
English, an obligation considered the most sacred in the commis- 
sion of those administering the public schools. In most high 
schools outside New York City of which the committee has 
knowledge English has five, and in many, more than five periods 
as a matter of course, and the problem of Americanization is not 
half so complex as it is in New York City. 

Moreover, the most important equipment for success in any 
position of responsibility is a command of English. To help a 
student gain the command takes time, but it also saves time. 
Sound training in English would double the rate of progress in 
every other subject. 

The committee therefore strongly urges that it be made clear 
to all high school principals that to meet the requirement in oral 
English one period should be added to the time given to English. 

The committee has been at pains to consult the program 
makers of large high schools to ascertain whether five periods 
throughout the high school course would unduly burden the stu- 
dent, whether it would jeopardize diploma or college entrance, 
whether rooms would go 'round. All answered unhesitatingly 
in the negative on the first two points, all but one on the third. 
Exception might be made for an exceptionally large or complex 
school. 

140 



In conclusion, the committee would call attention to the fact 
that it has not made any recommendation nor suggestion for 
work in English that would not benefit all the students. It is 
neither practicable nor desirable to segregate the prospective 
teacher, he should enjoy the broadest social contact. 

(Signed) ANGELA M. KEYES 

HELEN L. COHEN 
EDITH FOWLER 
MAUDE M. FRANK 
ROLAND S. KEYSER 



141 



MASS ATHLETICS AT ERASMUS HALL HIGH SCHOOL 

Report by the Chairman of the Physical Training Department 
to Principal Low 

Pursuant to your request, I am submitting herewith the fol- 
lowing report concerning the program of health education and 
physical training for boys, with a view of pointing out in detail 
how Erasmus Hall High School has fulfilled the requirements of 
the general plan for physical training for secondary schools 
adopted by the Board of Regents, October 19, 1916. 

It is also my intention to embody in this report the under- 
lying ideas and principles of our program and to give a compre- 
hensive idea of the goal toward which the members of the phys- 
ical training department are driving. 

In general, it might be stated that our policy is a progressive 
one ; every effort is being made to interpret the spirit as well as 
the letter of the State Law regarding physical training; greater 
emphasis is placed on "Mass Athletics." It is our aim to organ- 
ize athletic activities in the school on a basis that brings all the 
pupils into activity ; our boys receive an all-around mental, moral 
and physical development by the adoption of a program which 
includes formal gymnastics, hygiene instruction and directed 
recreation. 

We consider it of utmost importance to correlate our activ- 
ities with the civic responsibilities of the pupils. The purpose 
of directed recreation is educational, to develop motor skill, 
alertness, to teach games that will become a hobby after gradua- 
tion. 

This is the era of "Mass Athletics." Today all physical edu- 
cators are endeavoring to organize athletics on a broader scale, 
with a view of reaching the larger mass of the student body 
rather than the few. Undivided attention to a few athletes by 
athletic instructors is now passe. 

The Military Training Commission on Camp Activities dur- 
ing the progress of the war succeeded in enlisting the services 
of the best physical training instructors in the country to develop 
an athletic program that would meet the needs of all the sol- 
diers. 



143 



Erasmus Hall, always desiring to keep abreast of the times, 
decided to take up the idea of "Mass Athletics." 

After due discussion by the members of the physical training 
department, a plan was formulated on September 20, 1918, 
whereby every boy in Erasmus Hall was required to identify 
himself with some sport or other. 

The actual working out of this plan will be discussed at 
greater length in subsequent paragraphs. Suffice it to say, the 
results achieved have been beyond our expectations and that 
Erasmus Hall High School is the first school in the Greater 
City to boast of having 95% of its student body participating in 
sports, not only during school hours but also after school. 

General Organization 

Erasmus Hall, being one of the few schools adequately 
equipped, adopted a program calling for five periods of physical 
training a week, in order to meet the requirements of the State 
Law. 

During the spring and fall physical training lessons are con- 
ducted on the spacious campus and adjoining the old building. 
The boys are permitted to use the girls' gymnasium two periods 
a week during the winter months (Dec. 1-Apr. 15) ; the remain- 
ing periods are spent in the basement of the old building or in 
the auditorium. 

The two programs follow : 

Gymnasium Program. Outdoor Season 
Gym II Gym I 

Monday — Campus Basement and Field 

Introductory 6 minutes Same program as Gym II 

Tactics 10 " 

Org. Play 17 

Dismissal 3 " 

Tuesday — Campus Basement and Field 

Calisthenics 15 " Same program as Gym II 

Apparatus 17 "• 

Dismissal 3 " 

Wednesday — Field Basement and Campus 

Introductory 6 " Same as Gym II 

Indoor B. B 32 

Dismissal 3 " 

144 



Thursday — Field or Campus 

Introductory 6 minutes 

Calisthenics 20 

Athletic Ints 12 

Dismissal 3 " 

Friday — Campus 

Introductory 6 " 

Indoor Baseball 32 

Dismissal 3 " 



Basement and Field or Campus 
Tuesday Gym II program 



Basement and Field 

Same as Gym II program 



Gymnasium Program. Indoor Season 



Gym II 

Monday — Basement 

Introductory 6 minutes 

Hikes and Games 31 " 

Dismissal 3 " 

Tuesday — Girls' Gym 

Introductory 6 " 

Calisthenics 17 " 

Apparatus 15 " 

Dismissal 3 " 

Wednesday — Auditorium 

Hygiene 40 " 



Thursday — Basement 

Introductory 6 

Hikes and Games... 30 
Dismissal 3 



Friday — Basement 

Introductory 

Hikes and Games. 
Dismissal 



Gym I 
Auditorium 

Hygiene 40 minutes 



Basement 

Introductory 6 

Calisthenics 30 

Dismissal 3 

Basement 

Introductory 6 

Hikes and Games 30 

Dismissal 3 

Girls' Gym 

Introductory 6 

Calisthenics 17 

Apparatus 15 

Dismissal 3 

Auditorium 

Athletic Inst 35 



General Plan 

A syllabus of physical training was prepared by the mem- 
bers of this department in June, 1918, and put into operation in 
the fall of 1918. (Refer to Exhibit A, Physical Training Sylla- 
bus.) The most important features of this syllabus follow: 

1. Physical Examination. 

a. By Physical Training Teachers. 

b. By School Physician. 



145 



2. Formal Gymnastics. 

3. Directed Recreation. 

a. Playground games and athletic instruction. 

4. Hygiene Lectures. 

5. Mass Athletics (during school hours). 

Physical Examination 

Every boy upon matriculation receives a physical examination 
by his physical training instructor and once a year thereafter as 
long as he remains in school. 

In addition he is required at the beginning of each term to 
appear for a physical examination conducted by a physician, sent 
by the Assistant Director of Educational Hygiene. 

Last fall Dr. Gross examined every boy in the school — total 
register 1,313 — and found only 50 boys who were not physically 
fit to participate in athletic competitions. 

A list of boys with physical disabilities is kept on file in the 
physical training office, a copy of same being sent to all athletic 
coaches for reference. 

Requirements in Physical Training 

(See State Syllabus, p. 29) 

Physical Training A. — Correlation with school medical in- 
spection ; daily class inspection by regular class teacher. 

"Sanitary inspectors" have been appointed by Miss Crane 
to supervise the lunch room and to prevent boys from throwing 
lunch papers on the floor. 

The class teachers have appointed leaders who supervise the 
opening of windows during the setting-up drills. 

The class teachers and subject teachers are continually on the 
alert for pupils who show any signs of illness. All cases are 
immediately sent to Mrs. Edgell, school health officer, in room 
219. 

The provision of the law requiring state medical inspection 
of all pupils has not been carried out. (See p. 34, State Syllabus.) 

146 



Physical Training B. — Setting-up drills of at least two min- 
utes duration at the beginning of each class period, or at least 
four times every school day, directed by the regular class teach- 
ers. This requirement has been met in the two-minute drill at 
the beginning of each period during the forenoon. 

Physical Training C. — Talks on hygiene, two ten or fifteen 
minute periods a week under regular class teacher or teacher 
especially assigned to this work (to go into effect September, 
1917). 

Basing our calculations on a school term of twenty weeks, 
we are required to give lectures amounting to four hundred min- 
utes. We meet this requirement by giving a forty minute lecture 
once a week for ten consecutive weeks. 

1 am pleased to state that through the kindness of Dr. Francis 
Cohn of the Department of Educational Hygiene we have been 
able to obtain a tentative syllabus on hygiene for High Schools 
of the City of New York. Each teacher has received a copy of 
same together with instructions to make a complete outline of 
all lectures delivered. The pupils are required to keep note- 
books which are rated at the end of the course. 

Physical Training — Supervised Recreation 

Immediate requirement (Physical Training E may be sub- 
stituted), sixty minutes each under regular class teacher or 
special teacher. For schools with adequate equipment a mini- 
mum of four hours a week, at least one of which must be under 
direct supervision of regular school officials, the other three 
hours may be satisfied by equivalents accepted by the school 
from home or community activities of the child. This require- 
ment has been more than fulfilled. In addition to the ninety 
minutes a week of supervised recreation in our program, we have 
seventy-five minutes of noon hour recreation. At least 75 per cent 
of the boys are either playing during the noon hour or are inter- 
ested spectators. Furthermore about 50 per cent of our boys 
participate in some form of athletic activities, daily under direct 
supervision. The after school Center alone has an average daily 
attendance of 350 boys. The latter provisions of this law are 

147 



very vague; no adequate means of unsupervised recreation. It 
would necessitate a clerical force larger than the present corps 
of physical training teachers to carry out this section of the law 
to the letter. Below is total minutes of play (supervised) : 

Monday 35 

Friday 35 

Tuesday 10 

Thursday 10 

90 minutes per week, 60 minutes required. 
75 " noon hour recreation. 

Total 165 minutes 

Athletics and Play During Physical Training Period 

In each physical training class (Gym 1 and 11 together) there 
are on the average 16 squads with 12 boys to a squad. 

During every play period light games of one of the follow- 
ing sports are conducted : 

a. Indoor Baseball. 

b. Soccer. 

c. Modified Football. 

At the beginning of a typical play period, the captains are 
directed to take their posts in front of the class. 

At the command "Fall in," the boys line up behind their cap- 
tain. At a signal from the instructor the teams go "on the double 
quick" to the diamonds assigned to them. The captain gives 
the command "Halt," and teams then wait for a signal from the 
instructor to begin play. Figuring on seven periods *a day and 
sixteen teams to a period, we estimate that there are one hun- 
dred and twelve indoor soccer and football teams. 



Typical Eight Team Schedule 



Won score 


Won score 


Won score 


Won score 


by 


by 


by 


by 


1A-B 


A 6-1 C-D 


E-F 


G-H 


2B-C 


D-E 


F-G 


H-A 


3C-D 


E-F 


G-H 


A-B 


4D-E 


F-G 


H-A 


B-C 


5E-F 


G-H 


A-B 


C-D 


6F-G 


H-A 


B-C 


D-E 


7G-H 


A-B 


C-D 


E-F 


8H-I 


B-C 


D-E 


F-G 



Junior and Senior Schedules are drawn up in Grades 1, 2 and 
3. The winning teams are selected to represent the class in the 
noon hour Baseball League. 

Physical Training Card 

While acting as an instructor of physical training at the Vo- 
cational School for boys, I had the rare opportunity to conduct 
experiments along certain athletic lines. 

Inasmuch as there were no standards to make on a percentage 
basis in any given athletic event, I proceeded to ascertain what 
would be the minimum and maximum standard performance for 
a boy of a given weight and age. 

A group of fifty boys of a given weight and age (the height 
factor was left out in these experiments) were tested in the 50- 
yard dash. The results were as follows : 



10 boys, weight 120-125 lbs. 3 boys 10 sec. Lowest time 



10 " 


126-130 " 


5 " 


9 2/5 sec 


10 " 


135-140 " 


10 " 


9 1/5 sec 


10 " 


140-145 " 


15 " 


9 sec. 


10 " 


145-155 " 


10 " 


8 4/5 sec. 






4 " 


8 2/5 sec 



You will note that only three boys failed to make 9^ seconds, 
also three boys did better than %y 2 seconds. Basing my calcula- 
tions on the fact that these boys ran the 50 yards without any 



149 



real preliminary practice, I reached the conclusion that the average 
boy of 120 lbs. and over, and sixteen years of age and over, ought 
to be able to run a 50-yard dash in 9 2/5 seconds. In fact, the 
majority of boys can do it in better time. 

By designating 9 2/5 seconds as the minimum standard or 
passing mark equivalent to 60%, and adding an extra 10% for 
every 1/5 of second less than 9 2/5 seconds, until the maximum 
standard is reached, namely 8 3/5 seconds a graduated scale of 
credits is thus formulated. 

Tests were held in other events and standards were recorded 
in like manner. 

I realize that there are plenty of boys who could easily better 
the maximum mark. These are not the boys that this scale of 
credits will attract. The standards only serve to force the aver- 
age boy and the boy below the average to practice for the tests. 

The physical training card adopted for Erasmus Hall High 
School boys (See Exhibit C) is self-explanatory. On one side 
spaces are reserved for data pertaining to the boy's individual 
and team record. On the reverse side there is a "scale of 
credits," which serves as an index of performance in any given 
event and class. 

The boys are divided into three classes, viz. : Seniors, Inter- 
mediates and Juniors, according to age and weight. Incident- 
ally I might add that another class has been formed and desig- 
nated as the Midget Class (boys 100 lbs. and under, 14 years of 
age and under). 

The top line of the scale indicate the points or percentage 
and runs from to 6 or minimum mark, to 10 or maximum mark. 

The results of this system, giving boys advance information 
of what is to be expected of him, have been beyond our expecta- 
tions. It is not an unusual sight at noon hour to observe a group 
of boys at a chinning bar, or jumping in preparation for coming 
tests. 

The system, in other words, has produced self-competition. 

Last fall we conducted tests in the High Jump, Broad Jump, 
Chinning and Running, in which 1,183 boys took part. The 
tests covered a period of four weeks. This period can be reduced 



to one week provided the added equipment is sent to us by the 
Supply Department. At present, we have but one set of high 
jumping standards, one improvised jumping mat, and one chin- 
ning bar. 

Mass Athletics 

"Athletics for ALL" has been the slogan at Erasmus Hall 
since September 20, 1919, when the rule was passed requiring 
every boy to attend minimum number of practice days after 
school in some athletic sport under faculty supervision, in order 
to pass in physical training. 

In order that you may understand what the system is in the 
present form, permit me to indicate below a copy of the Athletic 
Director, which has been posted in conspicuous places, about 
the school for the information of the students. Also note the 
rules and regulations regarding the minimum athletic require- 
ments. 



Athletic Directory 



Monday 
Tuesday 



Wednesday 

Thursday 

Friday 



Spring Term 



A. S. A. C. 
A. S. A. C. 
Baseball 
Baseball 
Track 

Swimming 
A. S. A. C 
Baseball 
Basketball 
Baseball 
A. S. A. C 



Campus 
Campus 
Girls' Gym 
Prospect Park 
P. S. A. L. 
(beginning Apri 
4th Ave. Bath 
Campus 
Prospect Park 
Girls' Gym 
Prospect Park 
Lampus 



Mr. 
Mr. 
Mr. 
Mr. 
Mr. 



Elliffe 

Batchelor 

Elliffe 

Crooche 

Batchelor 



1 15) 



Mr. Ross 
Mr. Stratton 
Mr. Elliffe 
Mr. Croohe 
Mr. Elliffe 
Mr. Elliffe 



Baseball 

1. Varsity Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 

2. Junior League Tuesday, Thursday 

3. Senior League Thursday 

4 Baseball Tournament. 

a. Juniors — Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6—5 ft. 2 in., 15 years and under. 



151 



b. Seniors — Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, over 15 years. 

a. Class teams and clubs are eligible to membership in this league, 
in which team captain is required to give Mr. Elliffe a slip of paper 
indicating thereon the names of the teams, names of players, classi- 
fication (Junior or Senior). 

b. All entries must be in by March 20. 

c. Games begin promptly at 3:30. 

5. Members of first and second team Varsity, are not eligible to play 
in this tournament. 

<», The names of the boys on the winning team will be mentioned on 
Trophy Day. 

Mass Athletics — Erasmus Hall High School Rules and 
Regulations 

I. All boys of Erasmus Hall are required to have at least 
twelve days' attendance to their credit in any one of the follow- 
ing after school sports in order to pass in physical training. 

Fall Term 

a. Football (Varsity; Freshman; Sophomore; Midget). 

b. Soccer. 

c. Swimming (Varsity; Freshman). 

d. Boxing and Wrestling Clubs. 

e. Basketball (Varsity and Intergrade). 

f. Cross Country and Track. 

g. After-School Athletic Center, 
h. Cavalry. 

i. Hockey, 
j. Rifle. 

Spring Term 

a. Baseball (Varsity; Inter-Club; Freshman; Midget). 

b. Lacrosse. 

c. Basketball. 

d. Track. 

e. Tennis. 

f. Swimming. 

g. After-School Athletic Center. 

152 



II. Boys will be exempted from the after-school athletics 
for the following reasons : 

a. Physical Disability. 

b. Vocational. 

1. Boys who work are required to file with their physical training 
instructor a letter from their employer attesting that fact. 

III. The ratings for the number of days attendance will be 
as follows: 

12 days 60% 

15 days 80% 

20 days 100% 

IV. Special credit will be given boys who are leaders and 
who have distinguished themselves in athletics. 

V. Membership in the Y. M. C. A., Arbuckle Gymnasium, 
Recreation Center and other athletic organizations will be ac- 
cepted for credit, provided a letter from the physical directors is 
presented to the Chairman of the Physical Training Department. 

VI. All boys, however, are urged to obtain their athletic 
credits by affiliating themselves with one of the organizations 
in the school. 

At the beginning of every term the boys are encouraged in 
every way to join some athletic squad. Our policy is to retain 
all boys on a squad whether they are eligible to represent the 
school or not. No boy is ever dismissed from a squad except for 
disciplinary reasons. A board of strategy is selected by eadi 
coach to aid in the development of new players and to act as 
umpires in interclass contests. 

Interclass, Interclub tournaments are conducted in every 
sport. While Varsity teams are given special attention, the Sec- 
ond, Third, Sophomore, Freshman and Midget Teams (110 lbs. 
and under) are not neglected. Incidentally it might be stated 
that Mr. Batchelor had a motion passed at the last meeting of 
the High School Games Committee to the effect that the inter- 
school contests be conducted between the teams just mentioned. 

153 



Mr. Brewer, Chairman of Baseball, has just sent questionnaires 
to all the schools to ascertain whether it is advisable at this time 
to form leagues. 

For the benefit of the smaller boys and those who are not 
physically fit to participate in the more strenuous sports, an 
After-School Athletic Center is conducted four days a week on 
the campus in the rear of the old building. The center is open 
from 3 :00 to 4 :30 p. m. under the direct supervision of a teacher. 

The following activities are conducted : 

a. Indoor Baseball. 

b. Track. 

c. Playground Games. 

d. Football Punting. 

e. Lacrosse. 

At 4:00 p. m. the instructor in charge blows a whistle an- 
nouncing that he will begin stamping the athletic cards. 

The boys line up in the physical training office, have their 
cards stamped, and go back to play until the final whistle at 4 :30 
p. m. The average daily attendance so far this spring has been 
350 boys. 

At this juncture I might enumerate the difficulties and dan- 
gers that confronted us last term. Some boys, for instance, 
would try to get two stamps in one day by getting on the line 
a second time. This bad feature was quickly eliminated by in- 
structing the supervisor to scrutinize each boy's face carefully 
as well as his card. Each card must be written in ink to prevent 
a boy from using another boy's card. If a boy's card is lost, he 
is required to get three other boys to state that they saw him on 
the days he claimed attendance. 

Each instructor had to exercise great care to see that a boy 
who had come into the playground during the last moment did 
not have his card stamped. 

It is indeed gratifying to note how the boys compare their 
cards to see which one has the greatest number of stamps to 
his credit. I recall one case of a boy who proudly presented 
me with a card with thirty stamps on it. 

154 



In general the "Mass Athletic" system has had a very whole- 
some effect upon the whole student body. Ninety-five per cent 
of the boys are athletes whereas formerly only five or six per 
cent of the students participated in sports. As a result better 
varsity teams have been produced, and the mental, moral and 
physical tone of the boys is higher. 

Below you will find the results of the past term, giving in 
detail the number of boys attending each sport. 

Results 



Basketball No. of Boys 

1. Varsity 30 

2, InterGrade 120 

Football 

1. Varsity 35 

2. Second Team 19 

3. Soph. Team 18 

4. Freshman Team 21 

5. 130 lb. Team 20 

6. Midget Team 40 



Coach, Mr. Elliffe 



Total. . . . 
Cross Country 

Hockey 

Rifle 

Swimming . . . 



Soccer 

Tennis 

Track 

Lacrosse . . 
A. S. A. C. 



153 
55 
20 
20 
40 



10 

40 

18 

454 



Cavalry 100 

Grand Total 1,185 

School Register 130 

1,315 



" Mr. Batchelor 

" Mr. Stratton 

" Mr. Knowlson 

" Mr. Bigelow 
Supervisor, Mr. Winchell 
Coach, Mr. Townsend 
Supervisor, Miss LeBlanc 
Coach, Mr. Beardsley 

" Mr. Batchelor 

" Mr. Batell 

" Mr. Stratton 

" Mr. Elliffe 
Capt. Mortinson in charge 
Number boys excused for phy- 
sical disability or vocational 

reasons 60 

Number boys who failed to 
meet requirements 70 



Total 130 

5% physically fit participated in 
athletics. 



155 



I believe with the foregoing record in mind, Erasmus Hall 
can justly claim the proud distinction of being the first high 
school in the city of New York to put into successful operation 
a system of "Mass Athletics." 

To sum up in a few words, the aims of physical training at 
Erasmus Hall is to produce neither gymnasts nor athletes but a 
happy combination of both, to link sporting activities with char- 
acter development and efficient citizenship. 

Erasmus Hall High School Rapid Advancement Classes 

We have made several experiments in teaching students 
according to their ability. A special class of 36 was selected at 
the beginning of the term with the idea of doing two terms 
work of Cicero in one. Subsequently, three of these students 
were dropped as the work seemed somewhat heavy for them. 
The remaining 33 have completed work to the satisfaction of 
their teacher and have not spent, on an average, more than 
from thirty to fifty minutes a day in the preparation of the lesson. 
Miss McCarty, the teacher writes to me : 

"In teaching the class that has been specially selected to read 
the required work in Cicero in one term, I have had a feeling of 
great satisfaction, because, a thing which rarely happens, the 
bright pupils have been receiving their full share of attention. 
I think they have found the atmosphere of the class stimulat- 
ing." 

A similar trial has been made in the case of two French 
classes which were assigned to Mr. Stebbins. Students of very 
good ability and able to do more than the work of a single term 
in one were selected. As, however, text books were lacking, 
no additional work was given to the students at first. Instead. 
Mr. Stebbins prepared lessons in French and had the type set 
and the sheets printed in our printing plant, and used the sheets 
for the first half of the term. Work was the same as the subject 
matter in the regular text book, but the method of presentation 
was entirely different. The students covered this work so well, 
that Mr. Stebbins decided, after five or six weeks, to carry the 
class as far as they would go without being hurried. As a result 
they have nearly completed the work of two full terms of French. 

156 



A teacher of the French Department unaware of the work that 
had been done, visiting the class, said afterward that she thought 
it an unusually good second term class and was very much sur- 
prised when she learned that it was taking French for the first 
time. 

Of the 64 pupils in this class, 60 will next term complete the 
small remainder of the next term's work and take the work of 
the 3rd term. The other members of the class will receive credit 
for one full term's work. 

I have not heard that the work of any of these students in 
any other subject has been at all injured by this experiment. 

Practical Training for Citizenship 

We believe that students should develop what we call the 
"Erasmus Spirit" by taking a personal interest and responsi- 
bility in the school. Every grade is supposed to take care of 
some particular need of school life. For instance the students 
of the first year care for the appearance and cleanliness of the 
Old Building. The students of the third year form a service 
club, which aids in making passage through the corridors easy. 
It is a Service Club member who stands at the beginning of every 
flight of stairs and guides the students, so that blocks are 
avoided. The seventh grade takes charge of the order in the 
lunchroom. 

In addition, every class elects a president and the one hundred 
presidents elect a president of presidents. These presidents meet 
in the quiet period every Wednesday morning to talk over 
matters of interest to school life. They have carried on such 
campaigns as "Clean-up Week" and "Politeness Week." 

A work of value both to the school and the student body was 
done a few weeks ago. Our lawn in the quadrangle had been 
winter killed and the grass had absolutely disappeared from a 
large part of it. W r e borrowed from the Park Department all 
the tools necessary then put the boys who had been farmers last 
year at work to dig up the soil. A trigonometry class surveyed 
the ground, found out where the depressions were, and we then 
bought as many loads of top soil as were necessary to even the 
grass plot. After that grass was sown which had the greatest 



amount of shade toleration, for the foliage of the trees is heavy. 
As a result, today we have a lawn of velvet, at a cost to our 
General Organization of less than twenty-five dollars; and no 
one dares to step on it for fear of summary punishment at the 
hands of students. I know of no one thing which has so crys- 
talized the "Erasmus Spirit" as this bit of farming. I wish, Mr. 
Superintendent, that you and other members of the Board could 
come here and see a quadrangle which reminds one of an English 
University. 



Another Year of Progress in Mass Athletics at Erasmus Hall 
High School 

A year and a half ago, in the fall of 1917, a system of athletics 
was started at Erasmus Hall High School, which has since been 
developed satisfactorily through the enthusiastic cooperation 
of the members of the gymnasium department. Every student 
of the school must take part in supervised athletics regularly, 
with the few exceptions due to illness or after-school employ- 
ment. It was deliberately planned to do away with the "fan." 
Every student takes a gymnasium work five hours a week, and 
supervised athletic work for girls is carried on through certain 
of these periods. The boys not only have similar work, but must 
also share in a certain number of sports after school, in order tp 
get their rating for the term. 

Out of thirty-three hundred students, nineteen hundred girls 
and twelve hundred boys have this last term fulfilled all the con- 
ditions required, which means that thirty-one hundred students 
have taken individual part in athletic games and contests. 

It is a fact of note that this has been done with the complete 
and enthusiastic cooperation of the students, who realize that 
a training for the body can go hand in hand with keen enjoyment. 
So far as the girls are concerned, this was shown in the first field 
day held for them last spring. The mere announcement of it 
led to the immediate enrollment of twelve hundred girls and 
the meet, which was held in Prospect Park, was marked by a 
vigor and spirit which filled the very large number of spectators 
with amazed interest. 



158 



The instructors of the boys use a very careful system of 
marking by means of cards showing what each type of student 
should be able to do — cards originated by Mr. Richard E. Elliffe, 
Jr., chairman of the men's department of the gymnasium. It is 
an inspiring sight to see two hundred boys on the campus each 
playing with all his energy on the team to which he is attached. 
The boys chose their sports this past term as follows : 

Basketball 30 

Baseball 120 

Cross Country 55 

Football 153 

Hockey 20 

Rifle practice 25 

Swimming 40 

Soccer 20 

Tennis 10 

Track 40 

Boxing 100 

Lacrosse 18 

Cavalry 100 

Various after-school contests 469 

Total 1,200 

The general effect of the whole plan is to assure to every boy 
and girl out-door athletic work, which means daily exercise for 
the very many quiet students who, under other conditions, are 
quite apt to take no exercise at all, but to plunge directly from 
school to home. And more than that, the whole school popula- 
tion gets a steady training in class spirit and cooperation, in 
leadership and good sportmanship. 

Erasmus Hall has the advantage of a large campus on which 
after-school athletics may easily be held, and also of close prox- 
imity to Prospect Park. 

When a physician is summoned to examine boys and girls 
for athletics, he examines the entire school, for everyone is an 
athlete. We feel that our students are far healthier than they 
were in the days when only a few took part in the contests. 
And further our varsity teams are much more apt to contain 
good material because every boy is in training continually. The 
plan is no longer an experiment and it proves that mass ath- 

159 



letics may be introduced into public high schools as successfully 
as into colleges or private preparatory schools, if there is suffi- 
cient space for simultaneous games. 

General Organization Activities in Erasmus Hall High School 

To an outsider the amount of business done by a high school 
organization would seem at first hearing astounding. For in- 
stance, during the past year our General Organization had 
handled in money $52,248.54. This is exclusive of money passing 
through the Erasmus Hall Bank, but included the lunchroom 
which is managed under supervision of the General Organization. 
Our school play brought in $1,150, leaving $400 net. The re- 
ceipts fom the Choral Club concert and dance, the faculty basket- 
ball, the costume dance and the faculty play, which was distinct 
from the school play, amounted net to $999.99, part of which 
is to be applied to the Bronze Memorial tablet. 

The faculty play was unique and had a very human value 
as well as giving more unalloyed delight to the student body 
than anything which has ever happened at the Hall. The faculty 
wrote and produced the play taking off the idiosyncrasies of 
both teachers and student. It resulted not only in the win- 
ning of a substantial sum for the General Organization treasury, 
but a feeling on the part of student body that the teachers were 
human beings as well as teachers. The giving of this play has 
intensified the friendliness and sympathy which have always 
existed in this school between faculty and students, and far 
from relaxing good order has made the discipline distinctly 
easier. Those who were present at the play from outside ex- 
pressed very keen enthusiasm that such an event could have 
taken place. 



As an illustration of the present aim of our schools to meet 
the diverse needs of the people of New York, allow me to submit 
an account of 

The Instruction of Blind Pupils at Wadleigh 

Nine blind girls are registered among the sighted students 
in the regular classes at Wadleigh, at the same time forming a 

160 



group which receives special and interesting assistance. Of 
these pupils, two are about to be graduated, two entered the 
first term last February, and the others are in intermediate 
grades. A few years ago, a pioneer blind student made her 
way through school with brilliant success and is now at college. 
She was followed by one of the present candidates for gradua- 
tion. These girls found Wadleigh stimulating and helpful and 
advised their blind friends of its value. The result has been 
the growth to the present register. 

The conscientious and diligent effort of these students and 
the work of the school in aiding them appear amply justified. 
One graduate is succeeding at college; out of seven blind girls 
last term, three were honor pupils ; in general all maintain class 
standing above the average and for the most part achieve excel- 
lent records in the Regents examinations. One has just com- 
peted for a State scholarship at Cornell. Furthermore, these 
girls enter actively into the social life of the school, one holding 
office in the General Organization, two being members of the 
Arista League, and all enjoying the dances, plays, and parties. 
The majority enlisted as Victory Girls and by their own efforts 
earned money which they donated to social service among the 
soldiers. They have been active, also, in Red Cross and national 
service work and Thrift Stamp sales. 

These girls attend the regular recitation classes but have 
their own room for supervised study and.assistance, and a teacher 
assigned to take charge of their progress. She acts as adviser 
in planning their courses and programs, secures sympathetic 
teachers, cooperates with various social agencies and bridges 
the wide gap between the world of light and of darkness. This 
is done in part by supplementing classroom work when the 
handicap makes it necessary, with instruction or explanation — 
models of clay demonstrate the amoeba, for example; paper, 
pins and glue serve in fashioning other models; figures are 
pricked on paper to illustrate geometry, biology, and geography, 
and are presented to the tactile sense of the pupil. When possi- 
ble text books and supplementary readings are secured in 
Braille or New York Point, or are written or dictated. Home- 
work written in Braille is transcribed so that the class teacher 
may read it, and her written criticisms are explained to the 

161 



pupil. Approach to knowledge through the auditory channel 
is not neglected. Classmates or advanced pupils are secured to 
read the daily lesson aloud and talk it over. Examinations are 
taken from the Braille transcription or from the dictaphone, 
English, History, Science, Latin, and French tests having been 
successfully given by the second method, the pupil answering 
on the typewriter. All blind pupils unable to typewrite are early 
assigned to a typewriting class, where they have made excellent 
progress in speed, accuracy and neatness. This gives them a 
reliable means of communication. Braille writers, type slates 
for arithmetical computation and map cushions are usefully 
employed here as in the elementary schools. 

Besides the special teacher and mechanical aids these children 
derive school help from two other sources, viz., particularly 
interested teachers who occasionally give extra help, which is 
eagerly accepted and student assistants. The latter are se- 
lected sighted girls who read to or prepare their lessons with 
the blind students. This partnership is of mutual aid, since 
clarity of thought and expression are required of the young 
pupil-teacher; also because two heads puzzle out the meaning 
of the lesson ; and because of the sympathetic understanding 
and abiding friendship which are engendered and which are 
so pleasant and valuable to both. 

All the activities of the blind girls exemplify their ambition 
to show the world that as Sir Arthur Pearson expresses it, 
"The blind are normal folks who cannot see." Thus they take 
part in the community life not only for the personal pleasure 
they derive, but also for the educative effect on their sighted 
companions. In addition, their own opportunities for life to 
associate with sighted age-mates and co-workers. 

Newtown High School 

The high school which because of its extremely crowded 
condition probably works under the greatest handicap of any 
high school in the city is the Newtown High School. Not- 
withstanding this, it has a fine school spirit, it holds its pupils 
in school remarkably; it aims to give every pupil the work 
suited to his needs, and is continually raising its standards of 



scholarship. For example, of 30 State Scholarships awarded to 
Queens Borough High Schools this past year, Newtown pupils 
won 17. 

I submit from Principal Dillingham's report, some of the 
means used in achieving these most enviable results. 

Music 

Last year our school initiated the first music memory con- 
test ever held in a New York City high school and the popular 
interest thus aroused stimulated our pupils to a larger demand 
for a greater variety of musical studies in the school. During 
the present year we have had enough pupils to organize classes 
in. Musical History, Elementary Harmony, Musical Criticism 
and the results have been so encouraging that we believe that 
a special course in Music could be worked out successfully for 
this school. 

The class in Musical Criticism was a new experiment this 
term and has been very successful in arousing a keener interest 
in all things musical. Records of different artists and the sing- 
ing or performing of the same composition, were attentively 
listened to by the class and observations on tone quality, phras- 
ing, technic, enunciation, and personality, interpretation and the 
general atmosphere created, were made. Performances by 
members of the class and outside musicians who gave recitals 
for the class, were subject matters for class discussion. Tickets 
were secured as often as possible for concerts and recitals at 
Carnegie Hall, Aeolian Hall and elsewhere and were given to 
students of this class who wrote criticisms of the concerts 
attended and handed them in. 

On June 13th we conducted the first orchestral contest for 
elementary school pupils that was ever held in the City of New 
York. The orchestral of P. S. 93 won the contest and was 
awarded an average of 83 points out of a possible one hundred 
on precision, bowing, intonation, tone quality and balance of 
instrumentation. The conditions governing this contest were 
as follows : 

"In order to promote the study of orchestral instruments 
and orchestral music among the Elementary School pupils, the 

163 



Music Department of the Newtown High School and the New- 
town High School Orchestra have arranged to hold a yearly 
Elementary School Orchestra contest at the Newtown High 
School during June of each year commencing June, 1919. 

"A handsome silver cup will be the trophy. The winning 
school will hold the cup for one year until it has been won 
three successive years by one school, at which time it will become 
the property of that school. 

"Judges will be selected from the music teachers in the schools 
taking part in the contest, the music supervisors of those schools, 
local music teachers of the pupils taking part and the members 
of the Newtown High School Orchestra with Director of Music 
as acting chairman. 

"Points will be granted for instrumentation as follows : 



For 


each pianist 
" violinist 
" violaist 
" celloist 
" double bass 
" flutist 
" clarinetist 
" cornetist 
" horn player 
" trombone 
" drummer 
" oboe 
" bassoon 
" harpist 
" organist 


used 


1 

1 

3 

5 

10 

5 


point 


.. 




5 


« 






3 


« 






5 


« 


« 


.. 


5 


« 


„ 




2 

10 


" 






10 


ii 






10 


« 


" 




5 


» 




(Harmonium) 









"Precision, interpretation, intonation, bowing, tone quality, 
and balance of instrumentation will all be taken into considera- 
tion in deciding the contest. The composition to be used at this 
first contest will be Anitra's Dance, from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, 
by Grieg, Ascher edition, on Board of Education list as No. 9260 
to 9275." 



164 



Bushwick High School First Year Commercial Unit Course 

I beg to submit the following statements about the progress 
of One Year Commercial pupils in the Bushwick High School : 

At the beginning of the present term, one hundred sixty-seven 
girls were admitted to the One Year Commercial Course. Of 
this number, one hundred twenty-one are still in regular attend- 
ance. This shows the withdrawal of twenty-nine per cent in a 
little less than three months. In this connection, it seems to me 
important to note that one section which has been under the di- 
rection of Miss Josephine A. Dempsey has lost only five girls 
during the term. The attendance of this class has been remark- 
ably good and eighty-six per cent of the girls are still in school. 

From a study of attendance and withdrawal records of va- 
rious One Year Commercial sections this term and previous 
terms, I feel justified in making the general statement that it is 
particularly important to assign to entering One Year Commer- 
cial sections teachers who are naturally sympathetic and who 
will help the girls to adjust themselves to high school condi- 
tions. Except in the hands of strong, interested class teachers, 
the mortality among One Year Commercial pupils is as great 
as among Four Year Course pupils during the first term. 

Certain definite things have been attempted this year in con- 
nection with the work of One Year Commercial pupils. Sub- 
ject teachers have manifested increased interest in correlating 
the work in the various classrooms. The following statement 
prepared by Miss Dempsey shows the detailed working of the 
plan of correlating subjects. 

"The teacher of Civics, for example, takes up the subject of 
surface, elevated and subway lines, emphasizing their special 
significance in the community, their influence on the growth of 
industries, their effect on the value of property, etc. From this 
point, the teacher of Office Practice continues the subject, empha- 
sizing in her turn the value of this knowledge to a stenographer. 
This brings up the discussion of promptness in arriving at the 
office, necessity of selecting homes convenient to business or 
of applying for positions which may be conveniently reached, 



and lastly, the value of a knowledge of local geography and 
transit lines to a girl who wishes to assume more and more 
responsibility in her business. 

"The English teacher selects for topics for essays and discus- 
sion such subjects as the students may reasonably be expected 
to know from their work in Office Practice, Civics, Geography, 
etc. When the work of the Office Practice class is 'Filing,' the 
English teacher assigns for written work such problems as the 
following : 'You are a stenographer in a new firm and you inform 
your employer that a filing system would improve your work. 
He asks you to recommend the system best adapted to that 
office, and explain in what ways you may be made more effi- 
cient by means of it.' 

"The Typewriting work is kept closely correlated with English 
and Drawing in addition to Office Practice. The teacher points 
out strong points in the letters to be copied, and tries to PRE- 
VENT errors in English rather than correct them. When ar- 
rangement of letters is discussed the teacher makes her expla- 
nation in terms of drawing, employing the same terms for gen- 
eral principles and encouraging the students to recognize ele- 
ments in typewriting which have already been pointed out to 
them in the drawing class. The students have to file all their 
own typewritten work and are held responsible for errors in their 
own files. 

"Practical application of the work taught in the Office Prac- 
tice class is given to the students in the offices of the Principal, 
Administrative Assistant, etc. When the subject of alphabetizing 
is taken up in class, the students apply their knowledge by ar- 
ranging in alphabetical order all the registration cards for the 
school. At each lesson one girl is made 'Office Assistant' and 
she is required to plan the method of distributing work in order 
that it may be done in the quickest, most effective way. When a 
group of three students is sent to the office for practical work, 
one girl is sent as 'Office Assistant' and her duty then is to 
check up the work of the others, in order that the percentage of 
error may be reduced to a minimum. When the students are 

166 



learning filing they first make their practical application in the 
Office Practice room under the supervision of the teacher and 
later in the administrative offices under the supervision of an 
'Office Assistant' of their own. 

"One of the benefits we hoped to derive from the one-year 
course was that of rescuing students from the short-course insti- 
tutions, and we have been paying some attention to that side 
of the question this term. In the Main Building, thirty-five 
students were asked to state what they should have done if there 
had been no one-year course. Four said that they would have 
begun the four-year course and remained one year. One said 
she would have enrolled for the four-year course and remained 
two years. Thirty stated that they could not have come to high 
school at all. The majority of the latter said they would have 
gone to a certain business school specifically mentioned. Being 
interested in the methods employed by this particular short- 
course school, I obtained some interesting information. The 
girls say that in the last year in elementary school the students 
receive Christmas, Easter, or other holiday greeting cards from 
the private business school. Later in the term a representative 
of the school calls at the homes of the girls and begins a cam- 
paign to secure the girls' enrollment. The visits are kept up at 
intervals until graduation and sometimes even after the student 
has been enrolled in a public high school. One of the girls says 
that the conditions in a specifically mentioned school which 
'follows up' the elementary seniors are unpleasant and the 
school objectionable, but after the girls have enrolled and paid 
their money they are unwilling to change for the public high 
school. 

"The work of class 3g deserves particular mention at this time. 
The girls of this section entered the Bushwick High School in 
February, 1919, registered for the one-year course. After the 
completion of the year's work, these girls were kept in school for 
further study. The class was organized on the cooperative basis, 
working one week in school and one week in offices. In Febru- 
ary, thirty-three girls were registered for this course. Twenty- 
seven are still in school. 



"The cooperative girls continued their study of English, Book- 
keeping, Stenography and Typewriting, with special emphasis 
on the latter subjects. The girls are now able to write easy 
letters fom dictation at sixty or seventy words a minute and 
transcribe the work neatly on the typewriter. In plain copy 
work on the typewriter they have an average speed of thirty 
words a minute with accuracy. During the week out, some of 
the girls do stenographic work, others do copying on the type- 
writer and still others general office work. Personally, I feel 
that the work of this term has been more valuable to the girls 
than the work of the entire first year. I hope this practice may 
be continued so that one-year course pupils will be kept for a 
term on the cooperative basis after completing the work outlined 
in the one-year course." 

Mr. Milo F. McDonald, Coordinator for Bushwick High 
School, adds the following statement: 

"The average salary the girls are receiving is $12. This sal- 
ary is, even under present wage conditions, somewhat above the 
average for girls of their age. The girls average somewhat 
over fifteen years. The salary paid to the girls is, however, a 
minor feature. There are two points which, to my mind, are 
of far greater importance. In the first place the plan has not 
only afforded the girls an opportunity for gaining five months 
of extra school work ; but it has also given them the opportunity 
of being guided vocationally during this additional term. As a 
result each girl is today in a position where she can remain per- 
manently and where there are possibilities of advancement. Not 
one girl is in a "Blind Alley" position, such as she might have 
secured without the help of the school. Another important 
feature is that the teachers feel that the girls show far more 
initiative and interest since their placement in business." 

Respectfully submitted, 

H. W. LEYENBERGER, 

Administrative Assistant. 



i Some Notes Culled From Reports of High Schools 

Principal Janes of the Boys High School, reports on the new 
course in Economics as follows : 

"The introduction of the study of Economics has been a great 
help in combating the radicalism which was rampant in our 
school a year ago. The word rampant is perhaps too strong, 
but it is admitted by all of the teachers of Economics that So- 
cialism is much less in favor among our boys than formerly. It 
is felt also, that Economics is a distinct aid in training our stu- 
dents to think clearly. It has, we think, helped us in our history 
teaching, as it has revealed to us that we have had a tendency 
to develop the memory at the expense of the reasoning power." 

This tendency to develop the memory at the expense of the 
reasoning power is the greatest weakness of our education of 
today notwithstanding the constant study of methods by our 
teachers. Teaching having for its object the development of 
the reasoning power must be carefully planned each day. The 
teacher himself must be a clear thinker. In so far as a subject 
can force the introduction of a type of teaching, Economics will, 
I trust, create a demand for teachers who will train boys and 
girls to think straight. I therefore welcome this testing for Boys 
High School. 

Mr. John M. Avent, First Assistant in English in the Julia 
Richman High School, submits the following as the corner 
stone of the course in English. 

1. One distinctive need of our girls is a training in precision 
— precision in speaking and writing, in voice production, in sen- 
tence structure, and in the "decencies of English." 

2. A second distinctive need is as thorough a training as 
we can give in reading literature to notice the difference between 
the sham and the genuine. 

3. If we can equip our girls with these two tools of an edu- 
cation, they can go on growing in the long years ahead of them. 

169 



Changes in Principals of High Schools 

During the past two years important changes have taken 
place in the principalship of high schools. Three new high 
schools have been established. The annex of the Morris High 
School at Mott Avenue and 144th Street on November 14th, 1918, 
was made an independent school and named the Theodore Roose- 
velt High School. Mr. William R. Hayward, formerly First 
Assistant in Commercial Branches in the Washington Irving 
High School was made principal. The annex of the Morris High 
School at Broadway and Academy Street was made an inde- 
pendent school on February 1st, 1920, and named the George 
Washington High School. The annex of the Girls High School 
in P. S. 42, Brooklyn, was on the same date made into an inde- 
pendent school under the name of the Girls Commercial High 
School. Of the George Washington High School, Arthur A. 
Boylan, formerly principal of 165, Manhattan, was installed 
principal on February 1st, 1920, and on the same day Mrs. 
Evelyn W. Allan, formerly teacher of salesmanship in Julia 
Richman High School, was made principal of the Girls Com- 
mercial High School. 

To fill the vacancy in the Morris High School caused by the 
resignation of John H. Denbigh noted in my last report Mr. 
Elmer E. Bogart, administrative assistant in that school, was 
installed as principal on January 24th, 1919, and to fill the vacancy 
caused by the death of Principal Fairley, of the Commercial High 
School, Mr. Gilbert J. Raynor, First Assistant in commercial 
branches in the school, was appointed on November 19, 1918. 

In December, 1918, Theodore C. Mitchell, principal of Jamaica 
High School, suddenly died and in his place, Charles H. Vos- 
burgh, for many years the assistant principal of that school, was 
selected. At the time of writing this report, we have one actual 
vacancy, that is in the Bushwick High School, caused by the 
sudden death of Dr. Frank Rollins, and two prospective vacancies, 
one in the Flushing High School, caused by the retirement on 
September 1st next of Dr. John Holley Clark at the age of 70, 
the other in the High School of Commerce due to the resignation 
of Dr. Arthur M. Wolfson, who plans to enter business in Sep- 
tember next. 

170 



The loss of so many principals has been a great blow to the 
high schools. Their places are most difficult to fill and upon the 
success of the Board of Superintendents in selecting proper men 
and women to fill their places the future of the school largely de- 
pends. Our high school problems become more complicated 
every year. The very highest types of principals are urgently 
needed. Ability as proved by achievement must be the one basis 
of appointment if our high schools are to do their duty by the 
children of this city. 

Syllabus of English 8P— DeWitt Clinton High School 

Mr. Paul, in submitting the report of Mr. Jaxon Knox, con- 
cerning the experimental course in the modern drama which he 
has during the past six months offered as an elective to pupils 
during their last term in the school, calls attention to the efforts 
that have been made in this course to provide a background of 
knowledge of the drama that will serve as a basis for the forma- 
tion of proper standards that result in better decision in the 
choice of the plays attended and a clear comprehension in judg- 
ing the worth of plays presented upon the contemporary stage. 

Purpose. — The boys of New York schools seldom go to a play. 
They attend moving picture shows, vaudeville, burlesque and 
sometimes musical comedy. These performances are all dis- 
jointed and incoherent, making no demands on continuity of 
attention and sacrificing reality, probability, intellectual hon- 
esty and a sane and decent attitude toward life in order to amuse 
at all costs. From continued attendance at such theatres the 
boys lose the power to consider any extended action in a play, 
and also the power to enjoy really good work. 

The purpose of this course is to give the boys plays which 
are entertaining or interesting and also honest depictions of 
probable people in sensible situations. We wish to give them 
the opportunity of knowing plays of the better kind so that they 
may by contrast see the foolishness of their present dramatic 
food and perhaps be persuaded to go to good plays when they 
leave school. We also wish to train them so that they can pay 
attention to a play for more than one short act. We wish to 
increase their powers of continuous application. 



Contents. — The course contains specimens of the good and 
best plays produced since 1890 selected with care as to their suit- 
ability to the boys' age and mental development. It follows as 
nearly as possible the following outline : 

1. Study of the origin of the drama in Greece, the method 
of play production in the Athens of Pericles, and the knowledge 
of the type of play written by the three great Greek tragic 
writers. This is not a detailed or exhaustive treatment. 

2. Study of the origin of the drama in England, its develop- 
ment to Shakespeare's day, the type of play that followed 
Shakespeare. The Nineteenth Century play before Ibsen ; 
Ibsen's contribution to the farce and to the content of plays and 
its effect on acting and on modern playwrights. 

3. The reading and study of the following plays : 

(A)' Augustus Thomas, "In Mizzoura"; Dion Boucicault's "The Oct- 
eroon"; old-fashioned pre-Ibsenite plays typical of the nine- 
teenth century. 

(B) Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People," studied as a contrast to the 
i two given above to bring out Ibsen's contribution to the de- 
velopment of the drama. 

(C) T. C. Murray's "The Birthright," a tragedy of home life and 
a study of character. 

(D) Barrie's "What Every Woman Knows"; "Alice Sit By the 
Fire"; comedies of character study. 

(E) Davie's "Cousin Kate"; sentimental comedy. 

(F) Rachel Crother's "Three of Us," American comedy drama, 
verging on the melodrama. 

(G) Broadhurst's "The Man of the Hour," study of New York 
politics. 

(H) Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac," romantic tragedy. 

(I) Dunsany's "One Act Plays," supernatural melodrama. 

(J) Shaw's "Major Barbara," a philosophical comedy. 

(K) Langdon Mitchell's "New York Idea," Arnold Bennett's "Mile- 
stones"; satirical comedies. 

4. The composition work, grammar and technical English 
usual to the eighth term. 



A New Course in the Richmond Hill High School 

A course of five periods a week which aims to meet the needs 
of students who have serious speech defects was this year made 
part of our regular high school curriculum. It is an attempt to 
classify students according to their needs without segregating 
them or making them feel atypical. We give credit toward 
graduation for the work they do. 

For a number of years we have tried to cope with the prob- 
lem in a different way. We have used the one prescribed period 
of elocution for whatever occasional help that period admitted of, 
and we have urged weekly attendance at the speech clinics run 
by the Board of Education. This occasional help is, of course, 
most inadequate when we consider the student's needs from the 
standpoint of habit formation. Daily practice and thoughtful 
drill under careful supervision are absolutely necessary for effec- 
tive results in all cases of students suffering from serious speech 
defects. It is a common occurrence for a stammerer or a stut- 
terer or a lisper to be earnest and sincere in his effort in home 
practice and at the same time to proceed in such an incorrect 
manner when left to his own resources, that more harm is done 
than improvement secured. Correct daily practice alone can 
establish on the part of the student an awareness of his speech 
powers and the will to do the right thing in the production of 
all speech sounds. 

The speech clinics have, like the one elocution period, the 
disadvantages of work which comes but once a week. Attend- 
ance is not always easy to enforce because the clinics are held 
after school hours. Home and school duties and geographical 
conditions also militate against regular attendance and the fact 
that no credit is given for the work serves as a big drawback. 

The daily work is necessary not only from the standpoint of 
the student but also from the standpoint of the teacher. No 
occasional meeting with students suffering from serious speech 
defects can give to a teacher an understanding of all of the chain 
of circumstances which go to cause the difficulty. The problem 
assumes many and varied aspects and it is only the daily con- 



tact with the student that can give the teacher the opportunity 
to study cause and effect as they enter into the consideration 
of methods to be employed. 

The effort to meet these problems with efficiency and with 
justice to the student concerned has led to the introduction of 
our five period class. Here we aim to cure the speech defect and 
at the same time secure the correct use of the vocal mechanism. 
It is possible to cure a stutterer of his stuttering without improv- 
ing to any extent the quality of his tone. He may be left with a 
voice which is, because of the vigor and over-effort involved in 
the exercises for cure, bore unpleasant than the one with which 
he started. Dr. Floyd Muckey has wisely said that the proper 
action of the voice mechanism should be induced rather than 
forced. Poor use of the voice is in itself a speech defect, but a 
defect from which a great majority of people suffer and cause 
others to suffer. Voice training should be a definite part of our 
educational scheme. It has been too long neglected. But in this 
class, where we do intensive work made possible by our five 
periods a week, we aim not only to develop the student's muscu- 
lar control, which must be done in all cases of stuttering and 
stammering and lisping, unless the cause is pathological, but 
also to rid the student of muscular interference in the production 
of his tone. This muscular interference is one of the chief causes 
of the imperfect use of the vocal mechanism which results in poor 
tone from the standpoint of both volume and quality. We aim 
for the use of resonance in our voice exercises. We make the 
students see that resonance is the big contributing factor in both 
volume and quality. We illustrate this for the students by 
means of a tuning fork and resonator. When we succeed in 
securing, through resonance and a general relaxed condition, a 
better tone quality we can see coming to the student a feeling of 
confidence and security in his tone. This means that half of 
the battle has been won. In this procedure of aiming first to se- 
cure the correct action of the voice mechanism in the curing of 
speech defects we feel that we are starting with the fundamental 
thing in all speech work, whether in raising normal speech to a 
higher standard of excellence or in bringing sub-normal or de- 
fective speech up to the normal. 

174 



The problem of sustaining interest in this class while we 
work with individuals has become a simple one. We have suc- 
ceeded in developing a spirit of cooperation and general concern 
for the individual improvement. Each one is watching to see the 
other take a step forward. It is not infrequent to have applause 
given to some specially good attempt. At times we assign re- 
sponsibility in the matter of criticism. Some members of the 
class watch for correct use of the voice, others for the correct 
production of the vowel sounds, others for the clearness of 
the consonant sounds, etc. This trains the ear of the listener 
and develops an appreciation of speech values. Sometimes a 
stutterer is called upon to give, in a model way to a lisper, a sen- 
tence containing many sibilant sounds. The stutterer thus be- 
comes for the moment a leader and gains confidence thereby. 
For the development of this confidence and leadership we have 
also trained these students with defective speech to give the 
setting-up drill. We aim in this class for means and devices 
whereby not only the attention and interest of all may be sus- 
tained but whereby there may be at all times a contribution of 
some kind made toward the speech improvement of all. 

(Signed) SARA M. BARBER, 
Chairman of Department of Oral English, 

Richmond Hill High School. 



Occupational Guidance in Julia Richman High School 

The enormous number of students who drop out of high 
schools every year is a standing indictment against them. While 
the high schools cannot be saddled with the entire blame, they 
have various responsibilities in the matter. The solution lies 
not only in improving the work of the school but in "selling" its 
courses to the entering pupils. Thousands of first-term pupils 
have no adequate conception of the advantages of a high school 
training; neither they nor their parents are in a position to see 
the fallacies in the arguments of the "business school" agent, nor 
the dangers of untrained workers getting into "blind alley" 
jobs. 



Under the immediate direction of Mrs. Mary B. Morse, we 
have accordingly started a one-hour-a-week course in Occupa- 
tional Guidance in connection with the work in Community 
Civics. The topics for the present term are the following: 

1. What high schools are for and what the aims and opportunities 
of Julia Richman High School are. 

2. Ways of earning money so as to remain in school for a complete 
course; placement bureau, etc. 

3. Educational opportunities offered outside of school by the city, by 
private organizations, correspondence schools, business schools. 

TOPICS OF SPECIAL LESSONS 

1. Work: various motives for working; very simple talk developed 
from the experiences of the girls. 

2. Occupational opportunities for girls; classification of occupations 
made by the girls themselves. 

3. Actual results of the work of our Julia Richman girls. 

4. Choice of a life career: qualifications of the girl for the job. 

5. Choice of a life career: requirements of the different jobs. 

6. Conditions of securing work for a young girl: how to find a job, 
agencies, wants. 

7. Success in a job: different ideals leading to different notions o: 
success. 

8. Legal protection of women at work. 

9. Cooperation of worker to improve one's occupation: unions, etc. 
10. Relation of work to citizenship. 

While it is too early to judge of results, Mrs. Morse notes 
certain tendencies that are evident. 

"First, there is intense interest in the subject; second, the oc- 
cupational studies have apparently impressed the girls with the 
need of further study and there have been consequently many in- 
quiries as to general and business courses in colleges; third, the 
girls are impressed with the value of a strong personality as an 
asset in any position; fourth, girls want to talk more about their 
interests and their possibilities, so that there grows up a delightful 
spirit of comradeship within the classroom." 



Recommendations 

Allow me to summarize my recommendations as follows : 

1. (a) That the principals of high schools should apply 
intelligence tests as a means of classifying the pupils entering 
the high schools: (b) that the subject matter, methods and pace 
should be adapted to the ability of the various groups of students 
with a view to a radical reduction of the amount of failures in 
high schools. 

2. That the study of foreign languages be restricted to those 
students who have given promise of a reasonable degree of suc- 
cess in these studies. 

3. That an addition be made to the Manual Training High 
School so as to make possible the carrying out of the new tech- 
nical course for boys. If an appropriation cannot be obtained 
for the addition I recommend that the Board of Education re- 
quest funds in the budget for the rental of sufficient space in a 
loft building to house the first year of the technical course and a 
further amount of $60,000 for the equipment of the space thus 
provided. 

4. That the Board of Education ask an appropriation which 
shall make it possible to carry on the home nursing for girls 
which was given this past year at the expense of the Red Cross. 

5. (a) That the courses in what New York does for its 
people be given in the 7th and 8th grades of the elementary 
schools ; (b) that courses shall be introduced in the training 
schools for teachers which shall prepare teachers for this work. 

6. That in order to offer greater inducements to teachers 
to enter the high school work, all teachers who receive the first 
assistant's license should, be appointed as first assistants with the 
first assistant's salary. 

7. That the position of director of business subjects be au- 
thorized. 

8. That the Board of Education do all in its power to se- 
cure a site and building for the Julia Richman High School, for 
the George Washington High School, and a building for the 
Brownsville School. 

177 



9. That a cooperative part time high school be established 
in rooms now unoccupied or to be vacated in P. S. 44, Manhat- 
tan. 

10. That the high school department of the Far Rockaway 
High School be set aside as an independent school. 

11. That the Board of Education ask for an appropriation 
for a site and building for a technical high school in The Bronx. 

Reports of Supervisors of the Division of High Schools 

Allow me to submit the reports for' the past two years of 
District Superintendent William A. Boylan who, for the past two 
years, has given his time chiefly to visiting teachers and making 
reports on renewal of licenses, permanent licenses, and charac- 
ter of service of teachers. With over 2,800 teaching positions in 
the high schools this has been a time consuming task. Permit 
me, therefore, to bear witness to the great industry and helpful- 
ness of Mr. Boylan which has made it possible to keep this most 
vital work of the division up to schedule. This most trying work 
has been accomplished with a minimum of friction with the 
teachers who have realized the honesty of Mr. Boylan's aims in 
this most important matter of reporting on the character of their 
teaching. Although Mr. Boylan has inspected the teaching of 
all subjects, he has at my request made a special study of 
English teaching in the high schools and in his reports of last 
year and this year has made important recommendations which 
merit your serious consideration. 

The reports of Dr. James P. Haney, Director of Fine Arts, 
reflect the steady growth in the quality and diversity of the 
teaching of art in our high schools. No department in our 
schools has so utilized outside agencies in the furtherance of its 
work. This cooperation between the schools, the lovers of the 
fine arts and the crafts is probably the greatest single service 
of Dr. Haney to the schools and the last two years has shown its 
greatest growth. I shall not attempt to analyze his report. It 
deserves a close study in its entirety. 

The report of Mr. Lawrence A. Wilkins, Director of Modern 
Languages, contains an account of a most successful solution of 



a problem due to war conditions. Over 20,000 pupils in high 
schools dropped the study of German. These pupils were shifted 
to other languages, notably Spanish. Competent teachers of 
Spanish had to be secured for them. Other work had to be 
found for the 160 German teachers no longer needed in teaching 
that subject. Mr. Wilkins tells in his report how this was done. 
While these great changes have been taking place, the quality of 
foreign language teaching has been improved. For this improve- 
ment Mr. Wilkins is largely responsible. He has displayed 
initiative, energy, industry, courage and a spirit of cooperating 
leadership, and has well deserved the permanent tenure he re- 
ceived this past year. 

These two directors, Dr. Haney and Mr. Wilkins, have proved 
the wisdom of the establishment of their positions and have 
furnished the strongest arguments for the extension to other 
subjects of this same method of supervision in a large school 
system. 

Respectfully submitted, 

JOHN h. TILDSLEY, 
Associate Superintendent in charge of High Schools. 

LETTER OF SUPERINTENDENT BOYLAN 

May 27, 1920. 

Dr. John L. Tildsley, 

Associate Superintendent. 

Dear Sir: 

It is probable that no one in the system has visited so many 
different classes in the high schools during the past few years as 
have I. These visits have not been confined to any one subject, 
but have embraced English, history, science, economics, com- 
munity civics, and commercial subjects. 

The outstanding thoughts in my mind are that we have not 
been placing sufficient emphasis on oral English ; that the results 
in English, in general, vary greatly in different schools and that 

179 



there is a sad lack of cooperation between the English depart- 
ment and the other departments of the schools. 

Recently surveys of the work in English have been made 
outside of New York, notably Mahoney's Survey of the Public 
Schools in Cambridge, and Sheridan's in Lawrence, Mass. I 
strongly recommend that such a survey be made of the work in 
English in the high schools of New York City. I am convinced 
that much good will result from it. 

Every class in English should be visited ; every head of de- 
partment should be interviewed; many classes in subjects other 
than English should be inspected with a view to determining 
how the instruction in English carries over into the actual prac- 
tice of the pupils ; the work in a number of classes should be 
tested; the best methods should be noted; the peculiar conditions 
that prevail in New York schools, e. g., large classes, pupils of 
foreign-born parents should be considered ; the claims of differ- 
ent heads of departments should be discussed ; the wisdom of in- 
creasing the time of instruction and reducing the amount of 
matter taught weighed ; the best thought in the subject outside 
of the city sought; the best means of correlating the work of the 
English department with the work of other departments deter- 
mined ; the teaching of oral English emphasized ; minimum es- 
sentials established ; the aims, methods and results in all high 
schools studied and compared and the whole incorporated in a 
report beneficial to teacher and supervisor. 

No ratings should be given, no names mentioned, no ad- 
verse criticism of any school or teacher should be published. 

The undertaking is too vast for one man. The committee 
should consist of at least three members, one of whom should be 
a head of department in English, one a high school teacher of 
English and the third, the district superintendent assigned to 
high schools. The head of department and the teacher should 
be relieved of all other work for one year. The release of the 
head of department need involve no expense. His teaching 
periods might easily be distributed among the different teachers 



180 



of his department. It may or may not be necessary to secure 
a substitute for the teacher of English. 

This proposition has been indorsed by the Association of 
First Assistants in English. 

Respectfully yours, 

WILLIAM A. BOYLAN, 

District Superintendent. 



June 20, 1919. 

REPORT OF WILLIAM A. BOYLAN 

District Superintendent Assigned to High Schools 

During the scholastic year 1918-1919, I made about one hun- 
dred sixty visits to the high schools of the city or their annexes. 
I inspected the work of hundreds of teachers during this time 
with a view to reporting on their renewals of license or their 
superior merit. So full a program, such a variety of subjects 
and such concentration on individual cases while interesting 
and necessary, made difficult an intensive study of some of the 
larger aspects of the work. 

Recommendations for the Improvement of the Service 
English 

My experience in the high schools convinces me that the 
efforts of the teachers of English are hampered greatly by the 
careless work in expression which is accepted by teachers of 
other departments. Indeed, the teachers in these departments 
are at times themselves guilty of errors in phonation, pronuncia- 
tion and syntax. 

The head of department in English should have for his field 
of inspection not only the classes in English but the whole 
school. He should visit classes in subjects other than English 
that he may see how the work of his own department carries 
over into the practice of his pupils and that he may detect weak- 

181 



nesses in the use of English in the teachers of these subjects. 
Observation of the pupils' oral and written expression in these 
classes may result in modifications of the present system of 
teaching English. It should result in closer correlation between 
the work in English and the other subjects of the 'curriculum. 
Practice in English can be and should be secured in history 
classes, in science classes, in fact in every class in the school. 
These classes should be an aid to and not as they frequently are 
now a detriment to the teacher of English, The common weak- 
nesses in phonation, in syntax, in sentence structure, in definition, 
in paragraph structure, should be brought to the attention of the 
whole faculty and every member of the faculty should be held 
responsible for lapses in these matters. In fact, it would be 
profitable if classes for teachers were held in which the simpler 
aims of the English department were made perfectly clear to 
the whole teaching force of the school. 

The vocal utterance of our high school pupils is, in my esti- 
mation, unsatisfactory. Many of our teachers have surrendered 
in the face of our large foreign population. Other teachers are 
far from flawless in their own utterance. In general, the stand- 
ard is low and worse than all in some schools there is no dissatis- 
faction with this standard. In some classes in oral English, the 
teachers .have a wrong conception of their function. They di- 
vorce their teaching from the actual practice of their pupils. 
For example, it is not unusual to find teachers who give their 
pupils exercises in vowel values and neglect these vowel values 
in the pupils' reading or recitation. They do not realize that 
their chief function is to implant correct habits of vocal utter- 
ance in their pupils. To do this, it would be well to discover 
what are the common errors in phonation, pronunciation, tone 
production, and while by no means limiting their efforts to the 
correction of these errors, at least to see to it that in every exer- 
cise these features of the work receive due attention. 

As a further aid in securing clear and distinct oral expres- 
sion no teacher should follow the text with his eye while a pupil 
is reading aloud. It would be well at times to oblige the class 
to rely solely on the oral interpretation of its members for the 
meaning of the passage read. In other words, the pupils should 



at times "read to the ears and not to the eyes" of their fellow 
pupils. Every oral effort should be made with care. No slovenly 
utterance should be permitted, no dying away like a run-down 
clock. 

Lesson Plans 

I have inspected classes in which the teachers had not pre- 
pared satisfactory lesson plans. In my opinion there should be 
special preparation for every lesson. These plans should be 
inspected by the head of department and he should have the 
courage to state his objections to these plans, if they show weak- 
ness. 

Respect for Religious Faith of Pupils 

Teachers should be explicitly forbidden to present topics for 
composition or debate which are likely to discredit or shake in 
any way the religious faith of their pupils. An attempt to 
proselytize in our schools would be speedily checked. Far more 
insidious is the work of the so-called advanced thinker who on 
the plea of vitalizing his work presents to the undeveloped 
mind of high school pupils questions which cast doubt on the 
existence of God or the truths of revealed religion. 

Sex Hygiene 

The teaching of sex hygiene in our high schools should be 
most carefully scrutinized with a view to determining first of 
all whether it should continue to form part of the curriculum. 
If it is determined to retain it, every precaution should be taken 
to present the subject with the greatest delicacy consistent with 
clarity. 

Last Two Weeks of Term 

It is probable that the last two weeks of every term are used 
with more profit in some high schools than in others. It would 
be well to secure from every high school principal, the program 
of studies, the actual attendance of pupils, the examinations, the 

183 



number of pupils taking the examinations in every high school. 
The opinions of the various heads of departments should be 
sought as to the pedagogical value of the work assigned during 
these weeks. From an examination of these data, suggestions 
might be made for a more profitable use of the last two weeks 
of the term throughout the city. 

Assignment of Beginning Teachers 

Teachers beginning work in the high schools are sometimes 
assigned to classes in a haphazard way. At times very difficult 
classes are assigned to inexperienced teachers. For the good 
of the school and the success of the beginning teachers, the ex- 
perience and capability of the teacher and not the convenience of 
program making should be the guide in assigning such teachers. 



Minimum Essentials 

A subject worthy of serious consideration is the establish- 
ment of minimum essentials in the different classes of the high 
schools. 

Miss Mary F. Cahill, of Julia Richman High School, has done 
creditable work of this nature. She states : 

"The confusion resulting from a lack of definite standards led 
to a discussion in the spring of 1914, of the advisability of having 
the entire department work upon and draft a uniform system of 
marking test papers based upon minimum requirements for pro- 
motion. The first set of methods was adopted before the close of 
the school year. 

"Since then these methods have been watched most carefully 
with a view to discovering weaknesses and also with a view to es- 
tablishing very definite standards for the promotion of the AVER- 
AGE type of student, at the same time agreeing upon a method of 
marking that would give recognition to the superior type of stu- 
dent and that would bring to light the student who was failing to 
sustain himself. A careful scrutiny of these methods will show 
that an attempt has also been made to bring to the surface the 
character of the student's weakness in either subject. 

"The latest revision (February 1, 1919), includes some impor- 
tant changes. No changes or additions have been considered with- 

184 



out a very full discussion of the matter with the teachers and time 
allowed for them to think over the points at their leisure. Where 
differences of opinion existed and it was necessary for me to decide, 
I have always decided in favor of the groups of teachers that have 
been most successful in teaching the grades under discussion." 

Mr. A. S. Beatman, of the History Department of Julia Rich- 
man High School, tells in the following words what his depart- 
ment has done and what it plans to do in establishing minimum 
requirements : 

"We are reorganizing our syllabi in all the upper terms to indi- 
cate a core of the most important work for emphasis and for minima 
requirements of each class. The special needs of the future in the 
way of citizenship and economic history determine the content of 
the core. 

"We have undertaken a study of the kinds of power we are 
really attempting to develop with the idea of seeing if we can es- 
tablish some minima there. For instance we have agreed that all 
teachers of first term Community Civics must develop in each stu- 
dent in teaching the girls how to use a library; in teaching certain 
fundamental methods of study in history, especially in how to read; 
in teaching some definite powers in interpreting maps, etc." 

Standardization of Materials and Processes 

We waste much time from failure to standardize materials 
and processes. We have much to learn from the application of 
scientific business management to the conduct of teaching. 

There is in the Julia Richman High School a committee on 
standardized forms of which Miss Mabel F. Brooks, head of the 
English department is chairman, which has made a beginning 
in the matter. In March, 1919, the committee made several 
recommendations for uniform practice in the written work of 
pupils. I have seen evidence in the Evander Childs High School 
of efforts of the same nature. 

Meritorious Work 

Some very creditable work in English has been done in 
Washington Irving High School throughout the year. One 
notable piece of work was the writing of a Christmas letter by 
every girl in the school to the boys in three Debarkation Hos- 



pitals in the neighborhood. The syllabus for English in the 
technical and commercial courses is worthy of mention. The 
teachers of English have recognized many opportunities for 
expressing the spirit of Americanization in their regular class 
work. The annual report of the department of English in this 
school is interesting reading. 

Certain features of the English work at Evander Childs High 
School are sufficiently novel to warrant mention. 

I. Supervised Study 

A. In the sixth term classes, in addition to the four regular recita- 
tions, a period is regularly scheduled as a supervised study period. 
The teacher who for the past year has had more sixth term 
classes than the other members of the department, is heartily in 
favor of the permanent relation of this period, and the other sixth 
term instructors are only less enthusiastic. The advantages, or 
course, are the following: 1. The instructor, when he has his 
class preparing a lesson under his supervision, can learn the defi- 
nite difficulties that the students find in performing their task; 
2. He is brought to a realization that his assignments often re- 
quire more time to prepare than the 45 minutes to which the 
preparation of the average boy or girl should be limited; 3. He 
is able to suggest improvements in the way his pupils work; 4. He 
can develop such an interest in the assignment that the students 
will look forward with considerable eagerness to the recitation 
as a time when the doubts and difficulties that must result from 
earnest consideration of the problems set, may be discussed in 
class. 

B. During the last year of the Unionport Annex (September 1917- 
June 1918) a supervised study period was scheduled for every 
English class in the two terms (first and second) of students in 
the Annex. This proved successful for the reasons given above, 
the second point being of particular importance because the boys 
and girls were starting their high school course and had not be- 
come habituated, in their elementary school work, to preparing 
their home lessons in a really efficient way. 

II. The Socialized Recitation 

This was developed very far, in the last year of Unionport, but 
the whole department seeks to make the English recitation soci- 
alized to a considerable degree, and the feature is especially 
marked in the oral work. Mr. Knickerbocker has a type of recita- 
tion where, five types of problem in the field of sentence structure 

186 



or grammar having been set as home work, each of the five rows 
of students is called upon to give to the class as a whole the 
solution of one of the types of problem. One pupil from each 
row puts his work on the board, the others in the row discussing 
their work as though they were a committee. When the student 
has completed his board work, he consults with his colleagues, 
who generally have some changes to suggest. Then, the time for 
committee discussion being over, various members of each row 
explain its problem to the class and answer objections to the pro- 
posed solution, as well as give the detailed explanation of the 
solution itself. 



III. Pictures and Music in the Study of Literature 

Pictures are a valuable aid to the student in visualizing the char- 
acters, costuming, and setting of works of literature that have to 
do with periods other than the present. But the casual illustra- 
tions one can secure from periodicals are of little" value compared 
with the pictures to be found in the expensive editions of the 
texts studied. One of the teachers buys handsomely illustrated 
editions of the books used in class, and mounts them ort card board 
sheets so that they can be hung in the room. Griffenhagen's 
colored illustrations for "Ivanhoe," Dulac's colored illustrations 
for "The Tempest," Rackham's illustrations, also in colors, for 
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" are among those he has used. 
Might not certain of the publishing houses be willing to print 
sets of such illustrations for use in the schools? Such sets would 
have a large sale among the students at Evander Childs if they 
were offered at only a reasonable profit. 

Musical selections played in class on the Victrola or similar 
instruments are very effective in giving the spirit or atmosphere 
of a work studied. The Pirate's Song from "Treasure Island," 
the Knight's Chorus from "The Coming of Arthur," Elaine's song 
from "Lancelot and Elaine," and the many songs from Shake- 
speare's plays are very helpful. In one of the classrooms at Evan- 
der Childs this method of vitalizing the English work has been 
followed with distinct success. Should not the English depart- 
ment in every high school be allowed funds for records and an 
instrument? 

IV. Where grammar and sentence structure are studied from a considera- 

tion of errors in the pupils' composition rather than from drills 
in a text book, a useful device is the preparation of mimeographed 
sheets containing extracts from themes and written test papers. 
These serve as the basis of written homework which is later dis- 
cussed in class recitations. Such drill is very much more vital 
than work done with text books. 



V. Study of Vocational Requirements 

Mr. Raubicheck believes that throughout the school course there 
should be a systematized series of themes written by the pupils 
on subjects connected with the various trades and professions. 
The object of such a course of writing is partly to develop self- 
analysis of the student so far as his interests and special powers 
are concerned, partly to lead him to study the nature and condi- 
tions of the various occupations for the sake of the training such 
a study affords in itself, and partly to induce a wider sympathy 
with people of other interests than those of the student himself. 

VI. Pupils' Letters to Australia 

For three years one of the teachers has had one of his classes 
write letters to the students in the Sydney, New South Wales, 
high schools. Letters written by the girls are sent to the Girls' 
High School on Fort Street, and the boys' letters are sent to the 
Boys' High School at Petersham. Replies are mailed direct to 
the writers at their homes, and thus the correspondence is carried 
on by the boys and girls themselves. Many students in Evander 
Childs are now writing regularly to friends across the sea — 
friends that were found for them by one of the English classes. 

VII. Dramatics 

During the first term at the new building, when the Music Room 
was not in constant use, Mr. Knickerbocker held his "Twelfth 
Night" and "Tempest" recitations there, where the students used 
the stage for a really dramatic interpretation of those plays. This 
practice developed a strong interest in the work and an apprecia- 
tion of the dramatic action that could hardly have been secured 
otherwise. Mr. Knickerbocker is now at the head of a committee 
that has charge of all the dramatics at Evander Childs, and he 
very strongly makes the following two recommendations: 

1. An elective course in the study of certain plays should be in- 
stituted in the upper terms of the school. The work in char- 
acter analysis, the study of action, the appreciation of "atmos- 
phere," as well as the direct practice in interpretation and ex- 
pression — oral, facial, and bodily — would be far more valuable 
intensively and of much wider scope than any similar training 
in ordinary English work. 

2. In lieu of the usual Oral English period throughout a term of 
English, students should be allowed to choose a one-period-a- 
week course in dramatics. Such groups would produce plays, 
the instruction being similar to that in the more intensive work 
suggested for the Play-Study classes but more concerned with 
expression than literary analysis; indeed, the students would be 
working for the most part as players. 

WILLIAM A. BOYLAN, 

District Superintendent. 



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ART IN HIGH SCHOOLS 

Reports of James P. Haney, Director of Art in High Schools 
Report for 1919 

New York, June 30; 1919. 

Dr. John L. Tildsley, 

Associate Superintendent in Charge of High Schools. 

Dear Sir : 

I have the honor to submit the following report on the teach- 
ing of art in high schools for the year ending June 30, 1919. 
This presents an outline of the advance made by the depart- 
ment during the year and of the steps taken to forward organ- 
ization and teaching and to enlist the services of outside agencies 
in the work of the schools. 

General Review of the Year's Work 

The year just passed has been one of unusual character. 
This has been due to the war. Because of the war there has 
been increased emphasis upon the emotional quality of the ser- 
vice rendered by teachers. Throughout the city teachers have 
been urged to do their best for the country in the time of need. 
In the art department this call has been met by a whole-hearted 
devotion to duty and a willingness to accept difficulties and 
interruptions without complaint. These interruptions and diffi- 
culties, however, have acted very seriously to interfere with 
the development of high standards. Many extra holidays have 
been declared, beginning with those due to the epidemic of 
influenza and extending to recent parades of returning divisions 
and of Boy Scouts. It is estimated that these holidays and other 
interruptions have reduced the effective teaching of the year one- 
third. In connection with this reduction of teaching time, marked 
difficulty was experienced in securing needed supplies. Many 
schools have suffered for weeks from the lack of proper paper, 
colors, etc. This lack has now largely been made up, but the 
effect of the interrupted year will be felt for many months to 
come. 

Despite these difficulties the department has advanced in 
several directions. In January, 1919, a new examination scheme 



was developed in connection with the Regents tests. This is 
described in the present report. Its results have been very 
salutary. Partly as a consequence of this examination and 
partly because of the determined effort of the art corps, tech- 
nical standards in Representative Drawing have been raised 
throughout the city. This advance was noticeable in January, 
but far more apparent in June, when the work in Representative 
Drawing in all art studios was reviewed by a committee of 
thirty high school art teachers. The report of this committee 
laid emphasis upon the better drawing done throughout the 
schools. 

Another encouraging movement has been in the direction of 
art scholarships. More schools have interested themselves in 
providing funds for the industrial art education of talented 
graduates, raising this money through sales, bazaars, entertain- 
ments, etc. Cooperative relations with the trade have also been 
strengthened in various directions, and additional opportunities 
have been offered to graduates with industrial art training to 
pass directly into positions in trade studios. 

Perhaps the most encouraging advance of the year has been 
in the steady increase in the number of elective courses. These 
have increased from twenty to twenty-nine. Twenty-one of the 
twenty-five high schools of the city now offer advanced work in 
some form. These elective classes are fast raising technical 
standards in both drawing and design which will compare favor- 
ably with the best to be found in any high school system. In 
connection with this should be noted the establishment by the 
art department, in cooperation with the School Art League, of 
a Saturday class for especially talented pupils. Details of this 
class are given in this report. The work done by the students 
has been of such unusual excellence as to call for strong com- 
mendation from professional draughtsmen. 

Service of the Corps 

The general advance of the department has been due to the 
excellent work of the corps of high school art teachers. Despite 
the interruptions which have been referred to, the corps has 
striven to raise departmental standards in teaching and in 



organization. Especial commendation is to be given to those 
who have helped to carry forward the work in applied 
design. Much of this work has to be" done on materials, not 
furnished by the supply department, but purchased by pupils 
for their own use. The great increase in the cost of such material 
has hindered the development of this work, but the instructors 
have not allowed it to lapse, and through much effort have in 
most cases secured the needed supplies. In general the work 
of the corps has been marked by a strong professional pride. 

Corps' Spirit 

An unusual example of corps spirit and self-imposed dis- 
cipline was offered by the members of the art department on 
November 7th. This was the day on which the premature 
announcement of Peace was made and schools were dismissed. 
It was also the day on which the regular monthly conference of 
the corps was scheduled to occur at -4 p. m. Only two teachers 
of the entire art department took advantage of the opportunity 
to absent themselves. The remaining one hundred and forty 
instructors, knowing the effort which had been made to prepare 
the program and exhibition of work, attended the conference 
and carried forward its discussion. No stronger testimony could 
be offered of the strong spirit of professional responsibility in 
which the work of these instructors is done. 

Special Mention 

In connection with the service of the corps, it is desired to 
make mention of the following instructors for aid of special 
importance : Miss Mary S. Booth for the development of the 
cooperative trade plan which has led to the interest of many 
industrial art firms in the work of the department ; Miss Julia 
C. Cremins for the development of a new elective course in 
Wadleigh High School, with high technical standards in the 
second high school year ; Mr. Morris Greenberg for furthering 
and making possible the development of large mural decorations 
in the Commercial High School of Brooklyn ; "Mrs. Samuel T. 
R. Cheney for the development of the several trade exhibitions 
of the Washington Irving High School ; Dr. Henry E. Fritz for 



promoting the corps exhibition of paintings ; Miss Ruth W. 
Drake for the skillful application of applied design to material 
in many classes of the first high school year; Miss Dela P. 
Mussey for the organization of the corps luncheon; Miss Helen 
S. Daley and Miss M. Rose Collins for museum talks given be- 
fore large audiences of pupils in cooperation with the School Art 
League; and Miss Georgia C. Cowan for instructing with 
marked success the Saturday class ; also the art departments of 
the Manual Training High School, Evander Childs High School, 
Morris High School, Wadleigh High School, Washington Irving 
High School and Jamaica High School for generous service and 
highly successful results in raising funds through sales of work 
for the industrial art scholarships of these schools. 

The Growth of the Department During the Year 

The number of teachers is 143. This is but one more than 
the number of teachers employed in June, 1918. During the 
year, however, a considerable number of teachers was with- 
drawn temporarily. Most of these went into active service in 
the army, Red Cross, or Y. M. C. A. At the same time the 
number of pupils fell off owing to the demand on the part of 
factories for unskilled labor. In some cases, where this labor 
was partially skilled (upper grade students in the mechanics 
arts schools) pupils were enabled to leave the class room to 
enter positions at $15 to $18 a week. 

With the signing of the armistice, the flow of pupils back to 
the class room at once began and additional teachers were 
promptly needed. In January, 1919, there were but four vacan- 
cies filled by substitutes in the art department. In June, 1919, 
there were seventeen substitutes filling vacancies or taking the 
places of absent teachers. 

Shortage of Teachers 

In connection with the foregoing, it should be noted that the 
art department has, in common with other departments, found 
difficulty in securing properly equipped teachers. The number 
presenting themselves for examination has fallen off and the 
candidates have been deficient in technique and practical knowl- 



edge. In consequence, only five teachers have been added to 
the eligible list during the year. Of the thirty-seven candidates 
examined in April, 1919, it is reported that not more than three 
will be licensed. This will leave from fifteen to twenty vacan- 
cies to be filled by substitutes from September, 1919, to February, 
1920 ; i. e., one art teacher in eight will be a substitute with only 
a beginner's knowledge and technical ability. 

Teachers Under Supervision 

High School Men Women High School Men Women 

Commerce 6 1 Eastern District 4 

DeWitt Clinton 6 4 Erasmas Hall 2 5 

Julia Richman 5 Girls 7 

Stuyvesant 8 .. Manual Training 1 5 

Wadleigh : 7 New Utrecht . .. 2 

Washington Irving 22 Bryant 3 

Evander Childs 5 Far Rockaway 1 

Morris 10 Flushing 2 

Theodore Roosevelt 2 Jamaica 3 

Bay Ridge 5 Newtown 1 2 

Boys 5 2 Richmond Hill 2 1 

Bushwick 5 Curtis 2 

Commercial 6 1 — ■ — - 

— — 6 37 

31 69 

Total: Men, 37; Women, 106. General Total, 143. 

Total number of teachers, June, 1918, 142. Increase in year, 1. 

In June, 1918, of the 142 teachers referred to above, seven- 
teen were substitutes filling vacancies, or taking the place of 
absentees, ill or still away on war service. 



Examination for First Assistants 

In December, 1917, and May, 1918, an examination for first 
assistants was held. The results of this test have just been 
declared and the following members of the art department of the 
high schools have been licensed : Mrs. Samuel T. R. Cheney, 
Washington Irving High School ; Miss Alma L. Hamilton, Bay 
Ridge High School ; Mr. Morris Greenberg, Commercial High 



School, and Mr. Morris Klein, DeWitt Clinton High School. 
The first three are chairmen in the art departments of the high 
schools to which they are assigned. 

Departmental Conferences 

Throughout the year monthly conferences (on the first 
Thursday of each month, 4 to 5 p. m.) have been held for the 
instruction of members of the corps. These meetings have been 
regularly maintained for the- past nine years with results that 
increasingly show their value in maintaining cooperative effort. 
At each conference an exhibition has been held of selected work 
drawn from many classes, and demonstrations and lessons have 
been given by members of the corps. These instructors present 
phases of organization or methods in which they have been 
particularly successful. 

Abstracts of the different programs of the year follow : 

October 3rd: Exhibition from seven high schools of Silk Designs made 
for high school competition. The placement system of the Art De- 
partment of the Washington Irving High School, by Miss Mary S. 
Booth; Symposium and Exhibition on the Teaching of Lettering, by 
Miss M. Josephine Littig and Mr. Maxwell L. Heller. 

November 7th: Exhibition of Poster and Craft Work. Development of 
Plan Books, by Mrs. Samuel T. R. Cheney; Making and Use of the 
Poster Graph, by Mr. Raymond Carter. 

December 5th: Exhibition of Toy .Designs, Craft Designs and Drawing 
from advanced elective courses. The Value of Bazaars, by Miss Alice 

B. Scott; Industrial Competitions and Their Value, by Miss Eliza- 
beth Gowans; Development of a Departmental Fund, by Miss Dela 
P. Mussey. 

January 9th: Exhibition of Fourth Term Representative Drawing, Craft 
Work and Wood-block Printing. Methods of Developing Block 
Printing, by Mr. Maximilian Rabus; The Value of Art Teaching, by 
Mr. Albert Sterner (guest). 

February 6th: Exhibition of Textile Drawings and of selected plates 
from the Regents examination. New York City's Responsibility, by 
Mr. Leon L Winslow (guest). Development of Drawing in the Sec- 
ond High School Year, by Miss Helen R. Hutchinson and Miss Kate 

C. Simmons. 

194 



March 6th: Exhibition of Commercial Course of Study in Art, Interior 
Decoration and Representative Drawing, third high school year. De- 
velopment of the Assembly Art Programs, by Miss Florence A. New- 
comb; Teaching of Advanced Representative Drawing, by Miss Helen 
S. Daley. 

April 3rd: Exhibition of Lettering, Figure Drawing and Elementary 
Design. Teaching of Lettering, by Miss Pearl F. Pond; Composi- 
tion of the Lettered Poster, by Mr. Clarence H. Sprague; and Art 
in High Schools, by Mr. Hugo B. Froehlich (guest). 

May 1st: Exhibition of Pencil Drawings by the corps members, and 
Fourth Year Elective Drawing and Design. Practical Work in Ba- 
tik, by Miss Virginia Murphy; the New Elective Art Course of Wad- 
leigh High School, by Miss Julia C. Cremins; Perspective, by Mr. 
Ernest W. Watson (guest). 

Conferences of High School Art Departments 

As an additional element of instruction, local or group con- 
ferences have been held each month in each of the larger high 
schools under the direction of the several chairmen. These 
meetings have carried forward in more intimate fashion the 
work done in the general conferences of the department. In 
them, the emphasis has been placed largely on details of class- 
room practice. The programs have been arranged in advance 
and the talks on Methods illustrated by class work. Under 
alert and vigorous chairmen these monthly meetings have had 
a very salutary effect, bringing the members of the department 
into closer cooperation and continually causing each teacher 
of the group to review personal elements of instruction in the 
light of lessons presented by associates. This continued teach- 
ing of one another by members of the corps has been found to be 
one of the surest methods of raising standards of teaching. 

Conferences of Chairmen 

To coordinate and strengthen the work of the department as 
a whole, conferences of part or all of the twenty-five chairmen 
have been called from time to time throughout the year. These 
meetings give opportunity for the discussion of questions or 
organization and management. They have been designed, as 
the other departmental meetings, to enable each head of an art 

195 



department to take advantage of the successful methods em- 
ployed by others. Thus they are virtually classes for chairmen 
in which the teaching is done by the members of the group. The 
more important of these meetings were held on October 10, 1918 ; 
subject, "Methods of Securing Better Drawing." January 16, 
1919 ; subject, "The Development of a High School Art Scholar- 
ship System." This meeting was held in connection with the 
Scholarship Committee of the School Art League. A special 
meeting was held May 20, 1919 ; subject, "Preparation and Mark- 
ing of Plates in Examination." 

Revised Regents Examination 

In the school term from September, 1918, to February 1, 1919, 
the department prepared for the new system of marking papers 
in the Regents test. The older practice required pupils to sub- 
mit to a memory test in object drawing in the 4th term (end of 
second high school year) and a similar test in drawing in light 
and shade in the 6th term. The new plan requires pupils to 
submit a limited number of drawings done during the term under 
class instruction. The memory test has thus been done away 
with and teachers are enabled to emphasize the more important 
part of object drawing. This is the representation of the forms 
before the student. 

In January, 1919, only 4th term pupils were permitted to 
submit class work, but in June, 1919, both 4th and 6th term 
pupils were required to do so. An important and additional 
change in the examination was one authorizing of the Director 
of Art for High Schools to mark the papers with the aid of a city 
marking committee, instead of sending them to Albany to be 
submitted to a state marking committee. 

Results of the New System of Examination 

The results of the change in examinations have been encour- 
aging in every way. The papers submitted have shown an ad- 
vance in class room standards. This was to be expected when 
pupils were made to realize that the work done in the class 
room was not in preparation for examination, but was the ex- 
amination itself. The marking of the papers in the city accom- 



plished a two-fold result: Firstly, it permitted all of the papers 
to be marked within a single day and thus obviated the long 
delay which has often ensued between the forwarding of the 
papers to Albany and the return of the official marks; secondly, 
it permitted the papers of the entire city to be reviewed by the 
committee selected to do the marking. 

A large examining committee not only marked the papers, 
but also submitted a carefully written criticism on the work of 
each school. This is the first time such a review has been sub- 
mitted and the results were highly beneficial. A copy of the. 
criticism was forwarded to the chairman of each high school 
with the request that the points raised be taken up in conference 
and that elements of teaching needing revision be strengthened. 
The criticisms as a whole were thoughtfully prepared and were 
well received by the. teachers in the several schools. A deter- 
mined effort followed to strengthen weak points. The general 
result of this clearly appeared in the papers submitted in the 
June examination, which, despite the interruptions of the term, 
showed an advance over those submitted in January. 

Development of Object Drawing in the Second High School 

Year \ 

A further advantage attaching to the new system of exam- 
ination is to be noted. This flows from the fact that as pupils 
are no longer required to pass a memory test, teachers have been 
at liberty to present interesting and varied objects in place of 
the limited group of forms required in the older system. A very 
marked change has therefore taken place in the character of 
the models used throughout the schools. Certain schools have 
had so-called "Model Drives" in which pupils have been en- 
couraged to bring as gifts to the school, interesting forms to 
draw. A decided increase in the interest in the drawing lessons 
has followed the presentation of these more appealing forms, 
and this interest has aided in securing higher standards of 
technique. The whole subject of representation has thus come, 
through the change in examination, to be placed on a new foun- 
dation. A noticeable advance has already been made and fur- 
ther developments may reasonably be looked for in the year to 



197 



Drawing in the Third High School Year 

The advance in object drawing in the second high school 
year has been marked by a coincident change in the third year. 
This is due to the same cause; i. e., the requirement that pupils 
submit for examination the drawings made from objects in the 
class room. The drawings in the third high school year are 
done in pencil, in light and shade. Under the new conditions it 
was confidently expected that a very decided impetus would be 
given to this work. Unfortunately, a change in the re- 
quirements for entrance to training school has served to curtail 
the drawing in the third high school year very materially. Until 
recently pupils preparing for training school have been obliged 
to take drawing in the third high school year, and to pass with 
a mark of 75%. This provision insured students equipped to 
take up the methods work in drawing required of all studying 
for teachers' licenses. The new ruling admits any high school 
graduate whether or no this student has passed in intermediate 
(3rd year) drawing. As a result many students during the last 
year, who are preparing to enter training school, have omitted 
intermediate drawing. The general school system will soon 
feel the result of this lowering of standards and this lack of 
preparation. All elementary school teachers of the lower grades 
must teach drawing, and all should be given adequate prepa- 
ration. 

Pupils Taking Third Year Drawing 

The following tabulated statement gives the entire list of 
high schools with the number of pupils taking intermediate 
drawing in each school. It will be noted that in several cases 
the total number of pupils in both the 5th and Gth terms, of the 
third year, is now so small that even a single class has been 
formed with difficulty. Newtown High School with girl aca- 
demic pupils has no third year class and in the Julia Richman 
High School, Evander Childs High School, Far Rockaway High 
School, Jamaica High School, Richmond Hill High School and 
Curtis High School, the combined classes for the 5th and 6th 
terms number less than twenty pupils. In the Girls' High 



School all pupils of the third year are required to take draw- 
ing. This accounts for the large number enrolled in the third 
year classes of this school. 



PUPILS TAKING INTERMEDIATE DRAWING IN HIGH 
SCHOOLS, FEBRUARY TO JUNE, 1919 



High School No. Pupils 

Commerce 

DeWitt Clinton 28 

Julia Richman 7 

Stuyvesant 

Wadleigh 73 

Washington Irving 60 

Evander Childs 12 

Morris 60 

Theodore Roosevelt 

Bay Ridge 54 

Boys 

Bushwich 45 

Commercial 



339 



High School No. Pupils 

Eastern District 39 

Erasmus Hall 25 

Girls *256 

Manual Training 70 

New Utrecht 

Bryant 32 

Far Rockaway 10 

Flushing 20 

Jamaica 13 

Newtown 

Richmond Hill 10 

Curtis 13 

488 



Total 



* This is the last year that classes of this size will appear in the Girls' 
High School. In September, 1919, all fifth term classes in drawing will 
be small. In some cases so few pupils will elect drawing that it will not 
be possible to organize classes even for those who wish to pursue the 
subject. 



Development of Elective Courses 

In October, 1915, a syllabus of advanced elective courses 
was adopted. These offered six different forms of work to meet 
the needs of different types of high schools ; these are : Tech- 
nical Drawing, Art History, Applied Design, Interior Decora- 
tion, Commercial Design, Mechanical Drawing. Each school 
is at liberty to offer one or more of these courses for five periods 
a week, with five additional periods of home work. High tech- 
nical standards are required ; in addition, lectures are given, notes 
are kept and the work in general placed upon a basis compara- 
ble with advanced work in other subjects. The development of 



the courses has been very successful. They now offer a decided 
inducement to gifted pupils to remain in high school that their 
talent may receive training. 

Nine schools introduced the courses in February, 1916. 
This number has since increased to twenty-one schools offering 
twenty-nine courses, as follows : Commerce (boys) Commercial 
Design; DeWitt Clinton (boys) Technical Drawing; Julia Rich- 
man (girls) Applied Design; Stuyvesant (boys) Technical 
Drawing and Applied Design ; Wadleigh (girls) Interior Deco- 
ration ; Washington Irving (girls) Art History ; Evander Childs 
(boys and girls) Technical Drawing; Morris (boys and girls) 
Applied Design and Mechanical Drawing; Bay Ridge (girls) 
Applied Design; Boys, Mechanical Drawing; Bushwick (boys 
and girls) Technical Drawing; Eastern District (boys and girls) 
Applied Design and Mechanical Drawing; Erasmus Hall (boys 
and girls) Applied Design and Technical Drawing; Girls, Ap- 
plied Design and History of Art; Manual Training (boys and 
girls) Applied Design ; Bryant (boys and girls) Applied Design ; 
Flushing (boys and girls) Applied Design; Jamaica (boys and 
girls) Mechanical Drawing and Commercial Design ; Newtown 
(boys and girls) Applied Design and Mechanical Drawing; 
Richmond Hill (boys and girls) Interior Decoration and Me- 
chanical Drawing; Far Rockaway (boys and girls) Applied De- 
sign. 

Graduate Course in Industrial Art 

In connection with the development of the advanced elective 
courses, there should be noted the opportunity which now offers 
to girl graduates to pursue a post-graduate course in Industrial 
Art in the Washington Irving High School. This course covers 
the two years of work presented to the regular students of the 
high school, but permits the graduate student to specialize in 
drawing alone, and by so doing to shorten the required work to 
one year, if necessary, though students are recommended to 
remain eighteen months. A number of graduates from different 
schools are admitted each term under these conditions (twelve 
during the last term) and are rapidly prepared in intensive and 
very carefully supervised courses in commercial design or cos- 
tume illustration. Some of these students later pass on to Indus- 

200 








£& 




«=i ^ 



COSTUMES DESIGNED FOR A PAGEANT 
The Washington Irving High School, each term, conducts in its art department a competition 
for prizes tor costume illustration, offered by Mrs. Edward Robinson. The drawings above 
show original designs made by pupils in the third high school year. In this competition over 
thirty pupils took part, each designing four or five costumes in some historic period. 



trial Art Schools, others enter the trade as designers. Talented 
girl pupils, it will thus be noted, can, from their early high 
school years, be directed into courses which give increasing em- 
phasis to the training of their talent, and make possible the 
direct use of it when trained in industrial pursuits. As yet, it 
has not been found possible to develop a similar graduate course 
for boys. This would be highly desirable, and its organization 
is recommended. 

Advanced Commercial Courses 

While graduate courses in Industrial Art do not offer to 
boys, two undergraduate courses in Commercial Design have 
been developed. One of these is presented in the High School 
of Commerce, the other in the Commercial High School of 
Brooklyn. Both of these offer elementary courses of two periods 
a week in the two lower high school years, with advanced 
elective courses of five periods a week in the higher years. The 
Manhattan course has been in operation for some terms, the 
Brooklyn course was inaugurated during the past year. Both 
offer inducements to. the talented boy to specialize in Commer- 
cial Design, but neither presents a course which is more than a 
preparation for advanced work in a professional school. The 
industrial courses for girls of the Washington Irving High 
School are developed on a basis of twenty periods a week for two 
years. It is manifest, therefore, that five period courses for the 
same length of time can carry the student but a short distance 
along the road of professional training. 

New Course in Wadleigh High School 

The steady movement of the course of study is toward elective 
courses of greater length. Only in this way can talented pupils 
be early interested and induced to remain in high school to have 
their special ability cultivated. A development in this direction 
is presented in a new course instituted in February, 1919, in 
the Wadleigh High School. This offers an elective of five periods 
a week after the first year and is designed to enlist the interest 
of pupils who desire to specialize later in advanced schools of 
industrial or fine art. 



201 



The results of the first term's work in this course have been 
very satisfactory. Unusual interest has been shown by the 
pupils and excellent technical results have been secured. The 
course will follow the practice found most successful in training 
industrial students; i. e., intensive work in drawing succeeded 
by work in color, the study of nature, principles of convention- 
alization and the development of designs for application to a 
variety of different materials. 

Stuyvesant Exhibition of Advanced Elective Work 

The Stuyvesant High School made a special exhibition of 
its advanced elective work in the Metropolitan Museum in June, 
1919. The work shown included some hundred examples of 
drawings and designs developed from study in the Museum. 
Particular interest attached to the application of motifs derived 
from Museum specimens. In several cases the original study 
of the specimens was shown as a very careful drawing in color. 
A second drawing showed the design motif; and a third, the 
application of that motif to some constructed form for use in 
the modern home. Interesting adaptations of this type had been 
made for designs in metal, wood and clay. In several cases, 
the designs for metal had been modeled in relief in wax and 
showed clearly the value of the studies made from the historic 
originals. Credit for this exhibition is due to Dr. Henry E. 
Fritz and Mr. Philip Fischer, teachers of Stuyvesant High 
School, under whom this advanced work has been developed. 

Assembly Teaching 

The presentation of art topics in assembly is recommended 
to all high school departments. These lessons it is urged be 
brief and well illustrated by drawings or lantern slides. The 
topics may deal with the history of art or with the relation of 
practical aesthetics to our everyday surroundings. 

Progress has been made in this direction during the past 
year, but it is slow, chiefly owing to the infrequent assemblies 
in the different schools. When but few meetings are held pro- 
grams are crowded with routine announcements and few oppor- 
tunities offer to art teachers to present illustrated talks. In 

202 



the Washington Irving High School a daily assembly is held. 
This school, therefore, has been able, under Miss Florence A. 
Newcomb of the art department, to present a continuous series 
of art topics. Each topic has been developed by an individual 
teacher. For the most part, pupils have given the talks and 
made the necessary drawings or exhibited the lantern slides. 
The program since February 1, 1919, follows : History of Tapes- 
try (1) ; Indian Design (1) ; Chinese Influence in Design (1, 
2, 3) ; The Inspiration in Indian Design (1, 2, 3) ; A Visit to the 
Metropolitan Museum (1, 2) ; Famous Painting (1) ; American 
Painting (1) ; Outlines of Architecture (1) ; Architecture in New 
York (1) ; Glimpses of New York (1) ; American Fashions in 
the 19th Century (2) ; Dress Design (2) ; Characteristic Period 
Silhouettes (2) ; Children in Historic Costume (2) ; The Story 
of Pegasus (2) ; Triumphal Arches (1, 2) ; Army Insignia (2). 

(1) Illustrated by slides; (2) drawings; (3) objects. 



Standard Drawing Room 

The specifications for the standard drawing room have, with 
the cooperation of Mr. C. B. J. Snyder, Superintendent of School 
Buildings, been revised and extended during the past year. 
These now call for a studio half again as large as ah ordinary 
recitation room, with raised platform, storage and cloak rooms, 
running water, blackboards and display boards, model stands, 
and abundance of space for the exhibition of work and the 
storage of material. A special type of desk is furnished together 
with a special type of stool. This drawing table or desk is, by 
means of devices, made available for freehand or mechanical 
work, but has no adjustable parts to be broken or rendered use- 
less. New rooms of this type are to be introduced into the 
annexes of the Bryant High School and the Newtown High 
School. These rooms will offer good illustrations of a desirable 
plan and equipment for city high school studios. They will 
accommodate a maximum of thirty-six pupils and offer many 
highly desirable conveniences in space economically disposed. 

203 



Mural Decorations in Commercial High School 

Two mural panels, each 14x17 ft., have been installed during 
the last year in the auditorium of the Commercial High School 
of Brooklyn. One of these represents Ancient Commerce, the 
other Modern Commerce. They are the work of A. J. Bogda- 
nove, a pupil of the late C. Y. Turner. These panels were pro- 
cured at the instance of the art department and through the 
cordial efforts of both teachers and students of the school. The 
Municipal Art Society also contributed to the funds for their 
purchase. The panels are placed either side of the platform, 
and from their highly decorative treatment and coloring lend 
most effectively to the attractiveness of the hall. They were 
unveiled November 18, 1918, with appropriate ceremonies. One 
is dedicated to Dr. William Fairley, the late principal of the 
school ; the other, to the fifty-two graduates who laid down their 
lives in the Great War. Handsomer or more suitable memorials 
it would be difficult to conceive. They are at once an honor to 
those they commemorate and to the spirit of the school whose 
cooperative effort made them possible. 

Scholarships and Scholarship Funds 

Through the cooperation of the School Art League, the New 
York School of Fine and Applied Art and Pratt Institute, a 
system of industrial art scholarships has been developed which 
now offers opportunities for advanced study to a number of 
graduate students. The payment of the necessary fees is in part 
made by the respective schools (through funds developed by 
sales of their applied art work) and in part through contribu- 
tions of the League. The cooperation of both teachers and 
pupils is thus enlisted to aid the talented in developing their 
gifts of drawing and design. 

A number of additional schools have participated during the 
past year in raising scholarship funds through fairs, sales and 
bazaars. The list of awards (made on nomination of the several 
schools) follows: In February, 1919: Simon Shulman, Stuyve- 
sant High School ; Elsie Hermann, Wadleigh High School ; Mary 
Fraser, Fannie Alvis, Washington Irving High School ; Lillian 

204 



Blauvelt, Morris High School ; Gus Edelstein, Commercial High 
School ; Gertrude Honigsberg, Helen Goldman, Girls' High 
School. 

In June, 1919 : Mary O'Hanlon, Mollie Rubin, Helen Shankroff, 
Washington Irving High School ; Andrew R. Janson, Victor 
Riso, Stuyvesant High School; Florence Oetjen, Katherine 
Donahue, Evander Childs High School ; Martha Lifschitz, Ethel 
Gross, Morris High School; Helen Norberg, Bay Ridge High 
School ; Marjorie Meyer, Jamaica High School. 

Trophy Competitions 

Two drawing trophies are competed for semi-annually. 
These consist of bronze medallions mounted upon carved oak 
panels. One is contributed by the Municipal Art Society and 
the other by the School Art League. These trophies are awarded 
at the end of each school term after a competition by teams of 
five pupils each from the several high schools. The test is one 
in drawing from memory and from the object. Small bronze 
replicas of the medallion are awarded to each pupil on the win- 
ning teams, while the trophy itself remains in the possession of 
the school until the competition at the end of the succeeding 
school term. 

The Municipal Art Society Trophy was won, in January, 
1919, by the Stuyvesant High School, and in June, by the same 
school. This is competed for by pupils in the 4th school term 
(end of the second year). Sixteen teams entered the June com- 
petition. 

The School Art League Trophy was won in January by the 
DeWitt Clinton High School, and in June, by the Morris High 
School. This is competed for by pupils in the 6th school term 
(end of third year). Eight teams entered the June competition. 

Medals 

The art department offers semi-annually in each high school 
a bronze medal for good draughtsmanship in the first and in 
the second high school years. Where intermediate (light and 
shade) drawing is taught an additional medal is offered in the 



third year. All these medals are presented through the cooper- 
ation of the School Art League, the first being the gift of the 
Art-in-Trades Club (for design), the second coming from the 
Alexander Foundation, and the third (St. Gaudens) from the 
Barnett Foundation. In January, 1919, 21 Art-in-Trades Club 
medals were awarded, 24 Alexander medals, and 18 St. Gaudens 
medals ; in June, the numbers awarded were : 21 Art-in-Trades 
Club, 23 Alexander, and 20 St. Gaudens medals. The award in 
each case is to the student whose total marks for the year are 
highest. 

High School Teachers' Exhibition 

From May 11th to May 30th, 1919, the high school corps 
exhibited in the Municipal Art Gallery of the Washington 
Irving High School an extensive showing of their own works of 
art. These included over two hundred paintings, portraits, 
landscapes and decorative studies in oil and water-color, to- 
gether with a number of etchings, pencil drawings and pastels. 
The exhibition was promoted and hung by a committee of 
teachers headed by Dr. Henry E. Fritz of the Stuyvesant High 
School. It was seen by a large number of visitors and received 
very favorable comment. As an example both of the technical 
and professional skill of those contributing and of the cordial 
cooperative spirit of the corps, it deserved warm appreciation. 

Trade Conferences 

To promote closer relations between the industrial art world 
and the high schools, a number of trade conferences have been 
arranged during the year with representatives present from the 
schools and from trade studios. Small gatherings have been 
sought as a rule, that the exchange of ideas might proceed with- 
out formality, but two larger meetings were held for the pur- 
pose of familiarizing the teachers of the advanced classes of 
design with trade ideas, standards and methods of reproduction. 
The first of these (Oct. 24, 1918) was held at Cheney Brothers 
where designs for silk printing and weaving were explained by 
Mr. Frederick W. Budd ; the second in the studio of Mr. Harry 
Wearne (Dec. 3, 1918), where the process of developing hand- 

206 



block printed patterns was reviewed in detail. The thanks of 
the department are due these gentlemen and to many other 
representatives of the trade who have assisted materially during 
the past year in bringing the schools into closer touch with the 
needs of industry. 

Exhibition of Textile Designs 

To illustrate the professional character of its industrial de- 
sign, the Washington Irving High School, in January, 1919, 
exhibited in the Municipal Art Gallery of the school over two 
hundred textile designs made by students. These included pat- 
terns for silk and cotton printed goods and woven goods. In 
variety and excellence this formed the best exhibition of its 
kind that the school has shown. It brought strong commenda- 
tion from the trade, which sent representatives in number to 
visit it and to purchase patterns unusually good in color or 
design. Over a score of designs were thus sold. The trade 
papers gave wide publicity to the exhibition and the Textile 
Department of Gimbel Bros., to aid in making the work known, 
kindly offered a large window for its display. A number of 
selected examples were thus shown for some days and attracted 
wide attention from the general public. Much credit attaches 
to the art teachers of this high school for this graphic demon- 
stration of the practical work of the industrial art department. 

Trade Exhibition 

In order to emphasize the fact that its industrial art grad- 
uates are succeeding, the Washington Irving High School, in 
June, 1919, arranged a showing of an unusual nature. This 
consisted of some four hundred examples of work done in trade 
studios by students originally trained in the industrial art depart- 
ment and now earning their livings as professional designers. 
A wide range was covered, including a great variety of material 
in commercial design, pattern magazine work, costume illustra- 
tion, decorative drawings, textile design (with which was shown 
printed textiles made from the patterns), etc. A striking 
feature of the exhibition was a series of working drawings done 
by graduates who had become tracers and mechanical draughts- 



men. During the acute shortage of labor caused by the war, 
these young women were called in to take the place of absent 
men and were found so well trained and technically disciplined 
that they were rapidly advanced in the draughting offices 
employing them. 

This exhibition as a whole attracted much attention. It was 
visited by many representatives of different trades, including 
a large delegation from the upholsterers Association. It illus- 
trated the value of the fundamental training given by the school 
and the wide range of employment for which this training fits 
the graduate. It also showed the increasing area of the profes- 
sional field which is opening to women. Several of the exhibitors 
had firmly established themselves and were drawing good 
salaries at the age of twenty-one. The credit for the develop- 
ment of this excellent showing is due to Miss Mary S. Booth 
who planned and arranged it, and secured the cordial coopera- 
tion of her associates and the graduate students of the art 
department. 

Cooperation of the School Art League 

The School Art League rendered increasingly valuable 
service to the department during the past year. Despite the 
difficulties which beset many similar organizations because of 
the war, the League maintained and carried forward its helpful 
activities. It gave eight illustrated talks for high school stu- 
dents (Junior members) at the Metropolitan Museum, and also 
arranged for the free admission of these pupils to the four pro- 
fessional art exhibitions held in the Fine Arts Building. It 
financed the Exhibition of Toy Designs by the high schools in 
the Art Alliance galleries, and also defrayed the teacher's salary 
of the Saturday class for talented high school students. It 
cooperated with the high schools in providing twenty art schol- 
arships for graduates, and contributed medals for art awards in 
each high school. 

In addition it should be noted that the League continued its 
Docent service in the elementary schools, and through the Docent 
or visiting teacher, took one hundred and fifty-four classes to the 
Metropolitan Museum and to the Brooklyn Institute Museum. It 



increased the number of illustrated talks to elementary school 
pupils, giving these every Saturday throughout the season in 
the Metropolitan Museum and for a shorter fortnightly series 
in the Brooklyn Museum. In all the League reached audiences 
which totaled for the year, 47,258 persons. 

Saturday Class for Pupils 

In February, 1919, the art department secured the coopera- 
tion of the School Art League in the establishment of a Satur- 
day class for talented pupils. This class was formed for both 
boys and girls in the Washington Irving High School and was 
placed under the instruction of Miss Georgia C. Cowan. The 
League defrayed the salary of the teacher. Pupils were invited 
from the several high schools and many more applied than could 
be accommodated. After trial the class was reduced to some 
thirty-five members, representing fifteen different schools. The 
instruction consisted of drawing in pencil, pen and ink, wash 
and color, from a variety of models including bird and animal 
forms loaned by the American Museum of Natural History. 
The hours were from 9 :30 to 12 :30, and the lessons continued 
throughout the term. The work demanded was of a high order 
and the instructor was remarkably successful in securing results 
of admirable technical quality. 

Owing to this fact and to the many different high schools 
represented, the class served a double purpose. Not only were 
the pupils themselves' trained to do excellent work, but they 
carried their work back to their home schools where it served 
markedly to stimulate the interest in good drawing by raising 
standards far higher than those usually found in any high school. 
The class thus became an influence for good quite out of pro- 
portion to its limited size. Strong commendation is due to Miss 
Cowan for these excellent results. 

Cooperation of Art Alliance 

In October, 1918, the Art Alliance held in its galleries a gen- 
eral ; exhibition of Textile Designs. This was a professional 
showing of several hundreds of patterns contributed by com- 
petitors from many cities. Two hundred dollars were offered 

209 



in special prizes to the students of the city high schools, and 
local competitions were organized in ten schools as a test of 
how far the general instruction in design would carry the high 
school student in a professional competition. Some two hun- 
dred designs were completed in the schools, and of these eighty- 
two were submitted in the final competition. The results were 
highly commended by the jury, all of whom were representatives 
of the Trade. The chairman of the jury, Mr. W. D. C. Crawford, 
art editor of "Women's Wear," wrote as follows : 

"Permit me to offer the congratulations of myself and the jury- 
to the art teachers of the high schools for the splendid showing 
made in the Design Competition. * * * It is very gratifying to see 
the remarkable showing made by the pupils." 

A prize of $25 was awarded to Carolyn Brookman, of the 
Bushwick High School, $15 to Victor Echevarria, of DeWitt 
Clinton High School, and $10 to Louise Goerger, of the Bryant 
High School. Honorable mentions were also given to students 
of the Bushwick, DeWitt Clinton, Erasmus Hall, Washington 
Irving, Manual Training and Wadleigh high schools, and in 
addition, the judges, in recognition of the excellence of the 
work displayed by the Bushwick High School, made a special 
award of $20 to the Industrial Art Scholarship Fund of the 
school. It is of interest also to note that several of the designs 
exhibited were sold to the trade. The exhibition thus served 
to emphasize the practical nature of the art teaching done in 
the class rooms. 

Competition and Exhibition of Designs for Toys 

In December, 1918, a competition was held for designs for 
toys. This was promoted by the Toy Manufacturers Association 
and the School Art League, each of which contributed funds 
for prizes. The competition was organized on lines similar to 
those referred to in the Textile Exhibition. Eighteen schools 
took part, local prizes being offered in each school. Unusual 
interest was displayed by the students, two hundred and fifty- 
four presenting designs in the preliminary contest. One hun- 
dred and twenty-seven of these designs were selected by the 
school judges for the general exhibition which was hung from 

210 



December 11th to 28th, in the galleries of the Art Alliance. Each 
competitor showed three drawings in color. The exhibition was 
full of interest because of the quaint and humorous nature of 
many of the designs. Several showed ingenious mechanical 
devices and were commended by trade representatives as having 
valuable selling qualities. The prizes awarded by professional 
judges were as follows : First, to Lena Palestine, Washington 
Irving; second, to Helen Norberg, Bay Ridge; third, to Mar- 
guerite Schaeff er, Erasmus Hall ; honorable mention, to Florence 
Rupprecht, Bushwick; Edward Krugleck, Stuyvesant, and 
Renato Contini, Bryant. 

Cooperation of the Municipal Art Society 

The Municipal Art Society offers each term its Drawing 
Trophy. It also presents medals to each of the contestants upon 
the winning team. This year, in addition, the society invited the 
art department of the high schools to cooperate in the holding 
of a joint meeting on Industrial Art at the Metropolitan Museum. 
The School Art League, the Art Alliance and the Art-in-Trades 
Club were also invited to participate. This meeting was held 
on February 11th, and was attended by an audience of over five 
hundred persons. The Director of Art for High Schools was 
invited to preside and a program of several short papers was 
presented. The art department was represented by Miss Mary 
S. Booth, who described the steps taken to place the girl gradu- 
ates of the industrial art courses in desirable positions in the 
trade. All the addresses were highly practical, the meeting serv- 
ing as a distinct aid in the movement toward more concrete art 
teaching and toward the establishment of the much needed In- 
dustrial Art School in New York City. 

Cooperation of Art Societies and Trade Organizations 

Throughout the year it has been the effort of the department 
to promote cooperative relations between Art and Trade asso- 
ciations in order to further the teaching of art in the high schools 
and to afford wider opportunities to gifted pupils to study under 
advantageous conditions. References have been made under 
the several headings of this report to the organizations which 

211 



have aided, and appreciative acknowledgment of their several 
courtesies is here offered to : The Metropolitan Museum for use 
of its auditorium and its gallery for the exhibtion of school work 
and docent, or teaching, service ; the Brooklyn Institute Museum 
for similar service ; the American Museum of Natural History 
for many prepared specimens used in drawing classes ; the 
School Art League for funds, prizes, medals and lecture service ; 
the Art-in-Trades Club for prizes ; "Women's Wear" for prizes ; 
the Municipal Art Society for prizes ; the Art Alliance for use of 
its galleries; the New York School of Art, the School of Applied 
Design for Women and Pratt Institute for assistance in scholar- 
ships ; the National Academy of Design, the Architectural League 
and the New York Water Color Club for the free admission of 
high school pupils to their several exhibitions. 

Illustration of Patriotic Manual 

The art department of the high schools was called upon in 
October, 1918, to assist in the illustration of the manual entitled : 
"A Syllabus of the World War." As part of the illustrations, 
it was decided to use a number of the posters prepared in the 
high school war poster competition of 1918. Posters by students 
from the Manual Training High School, DeWitt Clinton High 
School and the Commercial High School were used, and it was 
encouraging to see how well these held their own in comparison 
with other illustrations by professional draughtsmen. 

It may be noted in this connection that the original poster 
competition drew out over four hundred competitors. During 
the fall of 1918, selected examples from this competition were 
sent by the School Art League to nearly a score of cities which 
had requested them. 

Alice Epler 

With much regret, announcement is made of the death, on 
May 1, 1919, of Miss Alice Epler, who, for over twenty years was 
a teacher of drawing in the art department of the Jamaica High 
School. Miss Epler was a painstaking, systematic and thorough 
teacher, devoted to the interests of the art department of her 
school and active in forwarding the details of its administration. 

212 



She was of modest and retiring disposition, but alive to the need 
of relating the work of the art department to the life of the 
school. In this connection, she found the elements of Pagentry 
of particular service, and in the development of these elements 
was notably successful. 

Pupils Under Instruction in First Two Years 

Register of pupils in First Year classes for the month of May, 

1919 Boys 14,399 

Girls 13,794 
Register of pupils in Second Year classes for the month of May, 

1919 Boys 9,234 

Girls 8,683 

Total pupils in First and Second year classes 46,110 

Total pupils under instruction, May, 1918 44,323 

Increase in year 1,787 

NOTE: — Drawing is a required subject of all pupils in the first and 
second high school years, with the exception of a number in commercial 
courses that study drawing only in the first year. 

Respectfully submitted, 

JAMES P. HANEY, 
Director of Art in High Schools. 



Report on Art in High Schools for 1920 

June 30, 1920. 
Dr. John L. Tildsley, 

Associate Superintendent in Charge of High Schools. 

Dear Sir: 

I have the honor to submit the following report on the teach- 
ing of art in the high schools for the year ending June 30, 1920. 
As this report is to be published in connection with the report 
rendered June 30, 1919, unnecessary repetition has been avoided 
of details presented in the former statement. 



General Review of the Year's Work 

The past year has seen the art department recover in a large 
measure from the shortcomings occasioned by the war. Evi- 
dence of the emotional strain then placed upon teachers and 
pupils is still visible, but for the most part, that which may be 
termed the "poise" of pupils and instructors has been regained 
and the department's work, as a whole, has been forwarded 
with great spirit and earnestness by the entire group of teachers. 

The most significant advance made in the year has been in 
the form of the new three-year elective course. This has de- 
veloped with marked success. A year ago, it was possible to 
point only to one school which had made tentative efforts in 
this direction. Since that time, eleven other schools have organ- 
ized "major" art courses and many scores of talented pupils 
have been enrolled in these courses. 

This, for several reasons, is the most striking advance made 
by the art department in a decade. For the first time, the sub- 
ject "Art" has been placed on a parity with other electives. For 
the first time, also, it has become possible to offer to talented 
pupils an opportunity to cultivate their skill in systematic 
fashion over a term of years. 

This is a "talent saving" scheme of real importance. It means 
that, hereafter, boys and girls gifted with artistic ability will 
have offered to them, in our high school system, opportunity to 
cultivate that ability, at the same time that they gain a general 
high school training. In other words, it will be unnecessary for 
them to leave some years before graduation, that while still 
undeveloped, they may attend an art school to find opportunity 
for their aesthetic expression. Many have so left in the past to 
the manifest detriment of their general education. The future 
may be expected to see "major" art courses developed in so many 
ot the largei schools that a very considerable group of pupils 
will be prepared to advance to post-graduate industrial art 
courses. 

Thus, for the first time, the way is clear for the artistically 
gifted pupil to use the high school as an agent in a training both 
general and technical, which will help him forward into the 
art industries. When the very present needs of this country 



along industrial art lines are considered, the significance of this 
plan will become plain. It is part of a systematic effort to direct 
those with talent into channels where that talent will be of great 
benefit to themselves and to the country at large. 

The details of the development of this work during the lasf 
year are noted in the body of the report. As part of this move- 
ment, the increase in the number of art scholarships offered to 
graduates is encouraging. A majority of the high schools have 
interested themselves in securing funds for the future education 
of their most talented graduates. These funds have been raised 
through the sales of art objects made in the high schools and 
through various entertainments. In the present month (June, 
1920) not less than twenty of these scholarships were offered in 
different high schools, half of the required fees being paid by the 
high schools themselves and half by generous friends cooper- 
ating through the School Art League. 

Note is also made of the advance in School-Museum work. 
Several schools have declared "Museum Days" and have, in this 
connection, sent ten or more classes at a time to visit and study 
in the museums' galleries. A variety of additional classes have 
also been opened for the high school students in the museums. 

The greatest difficulty experienced during the year has been 
caused by the shortage of teachers. This has been so pressing, 
throughout the spring term, that there have been sixteen un- 
filled vacancies in the corps aside from the half dozen vacancies 
occasioned by prolonged illness or the absence of corps mem- 
bers. Over twenty substitutes have, therefore, been continu- 
ously employed for the past six months ; that is, one art teacher 
in seven has been a beginner with only a beginner's knowledge 
and ability. 

Service of the Corps 

Strong commendation is given to the work of the art corps 
as a whole. A large number of these teachers have shown per- 
severance and enthusiasm in raising technical standards and in 
cooperating among themselves so that each individual might 
have the advantage of aid from the group. Especial note is made 
of the classes arranged to assist these teachers in Technique. 



A very large number attended these meetings, which were held 
on Saturday mornings. The work done in them was of a very 
practical kind, and later showed its good effects in higher class 
room results. Especial mention is made of the cordial spirit in 
which a number of art departments planned and carried through 
campaigns for raising money "for scholarships through bazaars 
and other entertainments. In general, the work of the corps 
has been marked by a manifest desire to work in a spirit of 
mutual helpfulness. 

Special Mention 

In connection with the service of the corps, it is desired to 
make mention of the following instructors for aid of special 
importance: Misses Helen S. Hutchinson and Florence L. Go- 
ding, for the development of the new technical course in draw- 
ing; Misses Helen R. MacDonald, Elizabeth Gowans, Beulah 
E. Stevenson, Katherine Van Allen, Margaret L. Murphy, Cath- 
erine A. Lancaster, Alma L. Hamilton and Virginia Murphy, 
for the high technical standards achieved in advanced elective 
courses ; Misses Ethel H. Averell and Mary F. Doux, for in- 
structing the Saturday class; Misses Annie McCrea, M. Rose 
Collins, Alix S. Cameron and Julia C. Cremins, for the develop- 
ment of group museum visits ; Misses Mary S. Swick and Irene 
Forrest, for raising unusually high standards in academic 
second year drawing, and Miss Helen S. Hutchinson and Mr. 
Morris Klein, for raising similar standards in third year drawing 
in light and shade ; also, the art departments of Washington 
Irving High School, Wadleigh High School, Evander Childs 
High School, George Washington High School, Morris High 
School, Theodore Roosevelt High School, Bushwick High 
School, Commercial High School (boys), Eastern District High 
School, Erasmus Hall High School, Manual Training High 
School, Jamaica High School and Curtis High School, for the 
helpful service and very successful results in raising funds 
through entertainments and the sale of work for industrial 
art scholarships for these schools. 

In addition to the above, commendation is extended to the 
large number of teachers who gave much time and effort in the 
development of the Poster Competition for the Tuberculosis As- 

216 




EXHIBITION OF APPLIED DESIGN AT THE ART ALLIANCE OF AMERICA 
Twenty high schools participated in this exhibition, held in the galleries of the Art 
Alliance, May 19th to June 9th, 1918. The exhibits included designs applied through 



embroidery, batik, wood-block printing, stenci 
"ifferent articles were shown. 



staining, etc. Nearly a thousand 



sociations of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Twenty-three of the 
twenty-seven high schools competed, and more than five hundred 
posters were prepared in the different high schools. Many of 
these showed technical standards of great excellence. 

Growth of the Department During the Year 

The department has remained practically stationary in size 
during the year. One hundred and forty-three teachers were 
employed in June, 1919, and one hundred and forty-five in June, 
1920. This slight increase is accounted for by the fact that 
while there were several new classes organized in the first and 
second high school years, there were a very considerable number 
disestablished in the third high school year, owing to the aboli- 
tion of Intermediate Drawing as a required subject for Training 
Schools. In the Girls High School, for example, 256 pupils took 
intermediate drawing in the term ending, June, 1919 ; whereas, in 
the term just closed, no pupils studied this subject. Similar re- 
ductions in the size of the drawing department took place in 
other schools, the decrease in the intermediate drawing classes 
being offset, only in part, by the additional advanced elective 
courses which have come to take the place of the work previously 
required in the third high school year. 

Shortage of Teachers 

The economic conditions which interfered with the secur- 
ing of an adequate number of teachers for the school system, as 
a whole, acted in similar fashion to lower the number of appli- 
cants applying for appointment to the art department of the 
high schools during the year. With this reduction in number, 
there was also a reduction in the ability of those who 
applied, so that of all taking the drawing examination in Septem- 
ber, it was possible only to secure four candidates, whose names 
were placed upon the eligible list. These four were appointed in 
February, and one additional teacher in May. These five teach- 
ers were entirely inadequate to fill the number of vacancies in 
the department. Their appointment left sixteen vacancies which 
have not been filled to the present time. The significance of this 
statement lies in the fact that the vacancies are increasing faster 

217 



than available candidates are presenting themselves. The de- 
partment, in other words, is continually falling behind in its 
teaching staff. It is hoped that the recent increases in the high 
school salary schedule will serve to attract a number of teachers 
to the examination to be held in September. These increases 
now offer a maximum of $3,700, as an annual salary, to assistant 
teachers in the high schools, and $1,200 to first assistants. 



NUMBER OF TEACHERS UNDER SUPERVISION 



High School 

Commerce 

DeWitt Clinton 

George Washington . . . 

Julia Richman 

Stuyvesant 8 

Wadleigh 

Washington Irvin 

Evander Childs 1 

Morris 

Theodore Roosevelt 

Bay Ridge 

Boys 4 

Bushwick 1 

Commercial (boys) ... 5 



Men Women 

, . 7 



High School Men Women 

Commercial (girls) ... . 

Eastern District 4 

Erasmus Hall 2 7 

Girls 5 

Manual Training 3 5 

New Utrecht 2 

Bryant 3 

Far Rockaway 1 

Flushing 2 1 /, 

Jamaica 3 

Newtown 2 x / 2 

Richmond Hill 2 1 

Curtis 2 



33 66 6 

Total, Men, 39; Women, 106. General Total 145 

Total number of teachers, June, 1919 143 



Increase in year 



Art Courses Offered in the High Schools 

Synopses follow of the art courses offered in the high schools : 

Academic Course: 

In all academic divisions of the high schools, pupils are required to 
study drawing for two years, two periods a week. The first year is 
devoted to the subject of applied design. Decorations in color are 
made for application to a variety of materials, and in a large number 
of classes, particularly in girls' schools, designs are worked out in 
the materials themselves. 



218 



In the second high school year, the required work consists of rep- 
resentative drawing done in outine from familiar objects. The plates 
made in the latter half of the year are submitted in examination for 
Regents credit. 

Commercial Course: 

In the three-year commercial course offered in various high schools, 
drawing is a required subject only in the first year, two periods a 
week. Pupils are required to study lettering and later make a variety 
of signs, advertising cards, etc., as a practical application of the alpha- 
bets learned. 

Fourth Year Elective Courses: 

Special forms of work are offered as a one-year course in the fourth 
high school year on a basis of five periods a week, with five additional 
periods of home work. Six different subjects may be pursued in this 
fashion by high schools which organized classes for this purpose. 
The subjects are: Applied Design, Technical Drawing, Commercial 
Design, Interior Decoration, History of Art and Mechanical Drawing.. 
At present, as noted in this report, fourteen high schools present this 
fourth year elective work in one form or another. 

Three- Year Elective Course: 

The three-year elective course may be offered by any high school 
which desires to organize classes for this purpose. The work is pre- 
sented on a basis of five periods a week, with five periods of 
home study throughout the three years. This presents Art, as a 
so-called "major" subject. In the first year Representative Drawing is 
studied from a large variety of nature forms and in different media: 
pencil, pen and ink, tempera, etc. In the second year the study of 
Color is pursued, and later, the principles of Design. A number of 
very carefully executed plates are required. In the third year the 
work is differentiated to meet the needs of the high school and may be 
offered as Applied Design, Interior Decoration, etc. At present, as 
noted in this report, twelve schools have organized elective courses 
of this description. 

Industrial Art Course: 

This course is organized only in the Washington Irving High 
School. It offers to girl students an intensive course of training for 
professional work. The course is three years long. Six periods a 
week of drawing are offered in the first high school year and twenty 
periods in each of the second and third years. The first year work 
and the first half of the second year work is in Representative Draw- 
ing done from a large variety of models in different media. In the 
second half of the second year, the principles of Color and Design are 

; 219 



studied; and in the third year, the pupils may elect to study Commer- 
cial Design, Costume Illustration, or Textile Design. The elected sub- 
ject is pursued under very careful supervision for the entire year, and 
the students who desire to do so, may further elect six months' post- 
graduate work in the school. The object of this course is to furnish 
practical designers for the trade, and the placement bureau has been 
successful in securing positions for practically every graduate who 
wished employment. These professional courses are under constant 
scrutiny by representatives of the trade, and every effort is made to 
prepare the students to meet the conditions required in the art in- 
dustries. 

Mechanical Drawing Course: 

In addition to the above courses, an elective course, two periods a 
week, of mechanical drawing, may be offered in the second and third 
high school years. At present, only two high schools offer this course, 
other schools preferring to present it as a five period a week subject. 

j Reduction of Intermediate Drawing 

A marked reduction of the number of classes in Intermediate 
Drawing has taken place during the past year. In the annual 
report for 1918-1919, attention was called to the fact that the 
recent abolition of Intermediate Drawing, as a required subject 
for admission to training school, would act in the course of the 
next few years to cause this subject to disappear from the cur- 
riculum. During the past year, the reduction has been very 
marked. In June 1919, 827 pupils were reported as having taken 
the course during the preceding term ; whereas, in June, 1920, 
only 277 pupils appeared for the examination in Intermediate 
Drawing. Ten high schools reported that the Intermediate 
course had been entirely abandoned. This means that students 
entering the Training Schools for Teachers are now far less well 
prepared in drawing than has hitherto been the case. The un- 
toward results of this practice have been pointed out. They 
have already been experienced in the Training Schools and will 
later necessarily manifest themselves in the poorer preparation 
of teachers presenting themselves for positions in the elementary 
grades. 

New Three- Year Elective Courses. 

In September, 1919, application was made to the State De- 
partment of Education, for the approval of a new elective course 

220 




EMBROIDERY IN FIRST YEAR HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES 
These bags were made and embroidered by pupils in the Manual Training High School, Brooklyn. The 
process shown is that of aoplique, where one material is stitched upon another, so that the stitching 
shows a strong decorative line. Very many bags like the above are made in the first year classes of the 
high schools each term. 



in drawing". This looked to see the subject offered in the second, 
third, and fourth high school years as a prepared subject, with 
five periods a week of school work and five periods a week of 
home work. 

Under date of September 25, 1919, a letter was received from 
Mr. Leon L. Winslow, Specialist in Drawing for the State, in 
which it was noted that it would be "possible for students regis- 
tered in the advanced drawing courses to receive 5 counts each 
year for the second, third and fourth high school years, provided, 
of course, that at least 5 hours a week are devoted to them 
through each year" ; and that, "Students should spend an equal 
amount of time in preparation outside the class room." Follow- 
ing this agreement on the part of the state authorities, six schools 
organized these advanced courses, and on the first of February, 
1920, five additional schools introduced this work. One more 
will do so in September, 1920, making twelve in all. These are : 
Wadleigh High School, George Washington High School, Evan- 
der Childs High School, Bay Ridge High School, Bushwick High 
School, Erasmus Hall High School, Manual Training High 
School, Girls High School, Bryant High School, Commercial 
High School (boys), Julia Richman High School and the High 
School of Commerce. In the last three schools, it has thus far 
been possible to organize the work only on a two-year basis. 

Pupils who elect this work follow the topic as a "major sub- 
ject" for three years. The first year is given to a study of 
Representative Drawing. This is pursued for five periods a week 
and in various media, students being taught on an individual 
basis and advanced as rapidly as possible from exercise to 
exercise. 

As the students are those who have natural talent for draw- 
ing, their progress is rapid and in the second half of the year, 
work in light and shade and color, is offered. The models used 
throughout this year for drawing, are first, familiar objects. 
These are followed by drawings from shells, butterflies, birds, 
animals and flowers. Cordial thanks are extended to the Ameri- 
can Museum of Natural History for its very generous coopera- 
tion in furnishing these classes with varied and interesting speci- 
mens to be used as models. 



In the second year, Color and Design are pursued in the same 
fashion, drawings and decorations being prepared during the 
class session and a weekly series of lectures recorded in a note- 
book. 

The third year has not yet been developed, but it is intended 
that in this year the pupils, on the basis of the training in draw- 
ing and design given in the two preceding years, shall special- 
ize in some one form of Applied Art peculiarly adapted to the 
needs of the school offering the course- Two of the girls' high 
schools, in pursuance of this idea, will offer Costume Illustration, 
one will offer Interior Decoration, and two or more, Commercial 
Design, including Lettering. Others will offer their third year 
work in the form of Design, with practical application to differ- 
ent materials. 

An outline of the Three-Year Elective Course is offered in 
Appendix I. 

Fourth Year Elective Courses 

The high schools which have undertaken to develop the three- 
year elective courses have, for the most part, abandoned the more 
limited elective work, which was previously offered in the fourth 
high school year. Because, however, of the necessity of organiz- 
ing good sized entrance classes in each three-year elective course, 
this newer work has been limited to the larger schools. In these 
schools, only, are there applicants sufficient to permit large intro- 
ductory classes to be formed. Other high schools throughout 
the city have continued to offer the fourth year elective courses, 
as heretofore, on a basis of five periods of school study and five 
of home study a week. These fourth year courses and the schools 
giving them are as follows: DeWitt Clinton High School, 
Technical Drawing ; Stuyvesant High School, Technical Draw- 
ing; Washington Irving High School, History of Art; George 
Washington High School, Mechanical Drawing; Boys High 
School, Mechanical Drawing; Eastern District High School, Ap- 
plied Design and Mechanical Drawing; New Utrecht High 
School, Technical Drawing; Far Rockaway High School, Applied 
Design ; Flushing High School, Applied Design ; Jamaica High 
School, Applied Design ; Newtown High School, Applied De- 

222 



sign; Richmond Hill High School, Mechanical Drawing. Only 
three of the twenty-seven high schools offer no advanced work. 

The advantages offered by the various elective courses, par- 
ticularly the three-year course, have already been referred to. 
A very practical illustration of these appear in the graduating 
classes of the present month (June, 1920). Although the elec- 
tive work is still in the process of organization, more than three 
scores of talented pupils will take post-graduate courses in the 
different industrial art schools of the city. The Wadleigh High 
School, for example, will send six of its graduates to the Wash- 
ington Irving High School, for the post-graduate work in De- 
sign, and an additional scholarship pupil to the New York School 
of Fine and Applied Art. This result is indicative of the real 
need for these courses which has long existed in the school 
system. 

Heretofore, talented pupils have either been obliged to re- 
main in high school without having an opportunity to spe- 
cialize in their chosen field of work, or what has been much more 
frequently the case, have been led to leave school in the first or 
second high school year, that they might find the work they de- 
sired in some art school. The untoward results of this practice 
appear in the inadequate training which these pupils have secured 
before specializing. With the new courses in full operation, 
opportunity will be afforded in all of our larger high schools for 
specialization on the part of the art-minded without neglect of 
the necessary elements of a general education. The students 
will thus be kept longer in the lap of the school and better trained 
for further work in professional schools. 

Departmental Conferences 

Regular monthly conferences for the instruction of the mem- 
bers of the art department have been held on the first Thursday 
of each month, from four to five p. m., with the exception of Feb- 
ruary, when the conference day was so stormy that the meeting 
had to be abandoned. At each conference an exhibition was held 
of selected work and a program was presented in which members 
of the corps participated. Particular emphasis in all of these 
conferences was laid upon the practical details of class room pro- 

223 



cedure. Teachers who had been particularly successful in differ 
ent phases of the department's work being called upon to illus- 
trate the methods which they had employed. 

Abstracts of the different programs of the year follow : 

October 2nd: Exhibition of drawings made in the Metropolitan Museum 
of Art by high school students. Plan for the Development of Ex- 
hibition Cases, by Miss Florence L. Goding. Talk on "Pageantry" 
by Mr. Dugald S. Walker. 

November 6th: Exhibition of printing, commercial work and represen- 
tative drawing, from the fourth term. "My Experiences Abroad," by 
Mr. Ely M. Behar. Practical Work in a Commercial High School, by 
Mr. Raymond Carter. 

December 4th: At this meeting, Public School 59, Manhattan, presented 
to the high school art department and their guests, the Peace-De- 
mocracy Pageant prepared by that school for the Thanksgiving cele- 
bration. This remarkably interesting performance was participated 
in by three hundred children. 

January 8th: Joint exhibition of designs from the first high school year 
by twelve high schools. The Foyer and Its Use as an Exhibition 
Hall by the School, by Miss Martha A. Hurlbut. Modern Applied 
Designs, by Mr. Herbert E. Martini. 

March 4th: Exhibition of work of the three-year elective courses and 
of the work of the Saturday morning class. A symposium on School- 
Museum Cooperation, by Misses Davis, Chandler and Abbot, repre- 
senting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Misses Frost, Newcomb, 
Cremins, Averell, Collins and Mr. Klein, representing the high school 
art corps. 

April 1st: Exhibition from ten schools of representative drawing from 
the second high school year. A Museum Day and How to Plan It, 
by Misses Annie McCrea and M. Rose Collins. The Raising of Art 
Department Funds, by Miss Julia C. Cremins. A symposium on Rep- 
resentative Drawing, by Misses Parker, Currier, Locke, Faulkner, 
Hamilton and Mrs. Fox. 

May 6th: Exhibition of advanced work from the elective courses of ten 
high schools. The Development of First Year Design, by Miss Maud 
M. Isles. The Value of the Elective Courses, by Miss Dee Beebe. 
Blackboard Drawing and Its Practice, by Miss Beulah E. Stevenson. 
A Demonstration of Figure Drawing, by Mr. F. G. Cooper. 




DESIGNS FROM ADVANCED CLASSES 
In the advanced elective classes in design in various high schools, many problems of exceeding interest 
and beauty are completed each school term. The above show a few from the Bay Ridge High School. 
These include a flower stick, tile, calendar and tray. The woven cord work of the tray was made by 
the designer. 



Classes for High School Teachers 

Beside the regular monthly conferences for the instruction of 
members of the corps, three courses have been offered within the 
department. The first course offered five lessons in Lettering, 
with pen and brush, and was held on Saturday mornings in 
October and November. Mr. Morris Greenberg, of the Commer- 
cial High School (boys), generously offered his services as in- 
structor. The class was attended by thirty-five instructors. An 
additional talk on "Etching" was given by Mr. Greenberg, at 
the Brooklyn Institute Museum, on December 18th. 

A class in Technical Drawing was held by the Director, at 
the Washington Irving High School, on eight Saturdays, begin- 
ning February 14th. Fifty members of the corps registered for 
this class which offered study from specimens loaned by the 
American Museum of Natural History, in pencil and in pen and 
ink. Drawing from the draped model was also included. 

A class in Reading and Public Speaking was organized by 
the Director on February 16th. This offered eight lessons and 
was given on Monday evenings in the Washington Irving High 
School. It was presented with a view to training the partici- 
pants in "assembly teaching" ; i. e., in giving talks and demon- 
strations before large groups of pupils in school assemblies. 
Eleven members of the corps pursued this course. 



Revised Regents Examination 

The method of marking the Regents papers submitted by the 
students in the academic courses in the second high school year, 
has been described in the 1919 report. Further tests of this prac- 
tice have served to commend it in many ways. Primarily it has 
led to a decided rise in technical standards in Representative 
Drawing. The reason for this is two-fold : first, because stu- 
dents have been offered an opportunity to draw from models 
more varied and interesting than those presented under the for- 
mer memoriter system ; and second, because the examination of 
the papers by a selected group of art instructors has resulted in 
apt and stimulating written criticisms which have led the teach- 
ers criticised to seek to better their work. 



225 



Thirty teachers were assigned as a central marking commit- 
tee, to act at the time of the Regents examination in January 
and in June. At the test in January, 1920, of the many hundreds 
of papers submitted, only forty-three were returned to the schools 
because of ratings, considered unduly high. In the examination 
in June, 1920, only six papers were returned of the 3,291 sub- 
mitted in the elementary test, and none were rejected of the 277 
submitted in the intermediate test. This indicates that a very 
commendable standard has been maintained by the marking com- 
mittees of the individual schools. These rated the papers before 
sending them to the central revision committee for reconsidera- 
tion and comment. 

Exhibitions 

Health Poster Exhibition: At the instance of the New York Tubercu- 
losis Association and the Brooklyn Committee for the Prevention of 
Tuberculosis, a competition was arranged in the high schools in 
March, 1920. This competition offered substantial prizes for "health 
posters" designed to assist in the campaign against the White Plague. 
Twenty-two of the twenty-seven high schools entered this competition 
and over five hundred posters were completed. One hundred and ten 
of these were shown in the galleries of the Art Alliance of America, 
10 East 47th Street, Manhattan, from May 26th to June 1st. A com- 
mittee of judges awarded the first general prize to Miss Florence 
Rupprecht, of the Bushwick High School. This carried with it $50 
in gold, and a gold medal. A second price of $30 was awarded to Miss 
Dorothy Howland, of the Washington Irving High School, and "hon- 
orable mentions" were given to Marian Herzberg, of the 3ay Ridge 
High School, Hyman Sack, of the Stuyvesant High School, and Mar- 
guerite Schaeffer, of the Jamaica High School. The prize poster is 
to be reproduced for general distribution and all the posters shown 
at the Art Alliance are to be arranged as a traveling exhibition which 
is to be sent to thirty or more of the larger cities throughout the 
country. 

This is the second competition of this kind which the department 
has developed in cooperation with the Tuberculosis Associations. The 
first was organized in 1918 and was later widely exhibited. Mr. Graves 
Moore, of the Tuberculosis Association, at whose instance the original 
competition was organized, writes as follows of the use made of the 
earlier designs: "These posters have been in constant use since they 
were made. The committee first exhibited them in the dispensaries 
of the Settlement Houses, Y. M. C. A. and Y. M. H. A., and later, 
thousands of people saw them in the refectory in Prospect Park. 
Later still, the exhibit was sent to many other cities, including, Bos- 

226 



ton, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlantic City and Framingham. As a 
result of this wide distribution, no less than fifteen other cities have 
held poster contests modeled directly on that organized in the New 
York City high schools. To show, how high a standard the New 
York students reached in their work, it is noted that immediately 
after the original exhibition in New York City, the Chicago Tubercu- 
losis Committee bought a dozen of the prize designs to stimulate the 
making of similar posters in the Chicago schools." 

Silk Design Exhibition: The industrial art department of the Washing- 
ton Irving High School held an exhibition of silk designs made by 
students, in the Municipal Art Gallery of the school, from june 3rd 
to June 25th. Over four hundred highly individual and colorful pat- 
terns were shown and a number were sold to the trade, which sent 
representatives to study the work. 



Pageants 

The request of the Superintendent of Schools that Peace- 
Democracy Pageants be presented by the schools of the city 
during the month of November was cordially responded to by 
the several high schools. Over twenty of these participated in 
the production of pageants, and in all cases the art department 
was called upon to assist in designing costumes, scenery and ac- 
cessories. Many of these pageants utilized the services of three 
to four hundred pupils, and in the case of the Eastern District 
High School Pageant, presented in May, 1920, eighteen hundred 
students were costumed and grouped with the aid of the art 
department of the school. 

To assist the elementary schools in the preparation of pageant 
material, the art department called a general conference at the 
Washington Irving High School, under the auspices of the 
School Art League, on October 28, 1919. Three hundred ele- 
mentary school teachers were present as delegates at this meet- 
ing, which was addressed by a number of instructors who had 
made a special study of pageant work. At the conclusion of the 
November celebrations, a special conference for the art corps was 
held at the Washington Irving High School, on December 12th, 
in order that there might be a general interchange of suggestions 
regarding the further development of pageant work. 

227 



Mural Decorations in the Washington Irving High School 

A very striking addition to the mural decorations of the high 
schools was made on Thursday, May 13, 1920, when the Wash- 
ington Irving High School unveiled twelve large panels, de- 
signed and painted by Barry Faulkner, as a decoration of the 
great entrance hall. The preparation of these paintings con- 
tinued over a number of years, their completion being delayed by 
the war. The interest of the Municipal Art Society was origi- 
nally enlisted by the first principal of the school, Mr. William 
McAndrew. Through the Municipal Art Society, represented by 
the late John W. Alexander, Mrs. Edward H. Harriman very gen- 
erously offered to defray their cost. The panels represent scenes 
from the life of the colonists and decorative maps of early Man- 
hattan. They are treated boldly in color, enhanced by the use 
of gold. 

Trophy Competitions 

The drawing trophies referred to in the report for 1919 were 
competed for in January and in June, 1920. The Municipal Art 
Society Trophy was won, in January, by the Morris High School, 
and in June, by the Flushing High School. This trophy is com- 
peted for by teams of pupils in the fourth high school term (end 
of the second high school year). Fourteen teams entered the 
competition in January, and sixteen in June. The School Art 
League Trophy was won in January by the Morris High School, 
and in June, by the DeWitt Clinton High School. This is com- 
peted for by teams of pupils in the sixth high school term (end 
of the third high school year). Ten teams entered the January 
competition and seven in the June competition. The fewer num- 
ber of teams in the latter competition is due to the fact that 
Representative Drawing, as already pointed out in this report, 
has been abolished as a required subject in the third high school 
year. Not many schools, therefore, maintain classes from which 
the necessary teams could be drawn. 

Museum Visits 

Effort has been made by the department to promote visits to 
the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to the Brooklyn Institute 



Museum, on the part of large numbers of pupils. To this end, 
in addition to the visiting done by classes of pupils in Art His- 
tory, Costume Illustration, and Design, separate schools have 
been urged to establish a "Museum Day," when a large part of 
the school might visit as a body. Three schools in Manhattan, 
George Washington High School, DeWitt Clinton High School 
and Wadleigh High School, have responded to this invitation 
and have sent groups of from four hundred to five hundred stu- 
dents at a time to the Metropolitan Museum, while Erasmus Hall 
High School has, in similar fashion, sent its first year pupils, as 
a body, to the Brooklyn Institute Museum. In each case the 
pupils have been met by the Director of Art in High Schools, 
who has given them a talk in the museum auditorium on phases 
of the museum collections, and has later arranged to have them 
visit the galleries in groups accompanied by their teachers. 
Further effort will be made in the year to come of establishing a 
practice on the part of a large number of schools, of holding a 
"Museum Day," in the same manner in which a "Field Day" is 
regularly held. 

Museum Cooperation 

The two art museums of the city have cordially cooperated 
in the development of the plan for school visits above described. 
Additional steps have also been taken by the department to 
establish closer School-Museum cooperation. On October 24, 
1919, a letter was addressed to fourteen art teachers particularly 
interested in museum work, inviting them to act as a committee 
to formulate recommendations and suggestions as to the steps 
which might be taken by the museums to bring their collections 
into wider use by high school teachers and students. This com- 
mittee included: Misses Cremins, Averell, Hutchinson, Beebe, 
Collins, Hamilton, Emmons, Faulkner, Spencer, Goding, Has- 
tings, and Messrs. Fritz, Klein and Greenberg. The recommen- 
dations of the committee were later offered as a report to the 
museum authorities. This statement contains many valuable 
suggestions relative to the establishment of classes, the organ- 
ization of loan exhibitions, the publication of special bulletins, 



etc. It will be found as Appendix II. One of the immediate 
results of this report was the organization, by the Brooklyn In- 
stitute Museum, of a Saturday class in drawing for high school 
students. This is described in a later paragraph. 

Cooperation of the School Art League 

The School Art League continued its very valuable service to 
the department throughout the past year. It gave eight illus- 
trated talks for high school students (Junior members) at the 
Metropolitan Museum, and also arranged for the free admission 
of these pupils to the four professional art exhibitions held in the 
Fine Arts Building. Owing to the fire, which unfortunately, 
destroyed the main galleries of this building on January 30th, 
the beautiful display of the Architectural League was ruined 
before it was opened to the public. The Academy of Design 
took advantage of the offer of the Brooklyn Institute Museum 
to display its Spring Exhibition in the Institute's galleries, and 
the Junior members of the League gathered there, some hun- 
dreds strong, on April 10th. 

The League has also continued to defray the teacher's salary 
of the Saturday class for talented high school students, and has 
developed still further its plan for providing art scholarships for 
talented graduates. Art medals were also offered at the close 
of each school term in the several high schools, as noted in the 
1919 report. 

Art Scholarships 

Under the auspices of the School Art League, a scheme of 
scholarship awards has been developed which has come to form 
one of the important phases of the work of the art department. 
The plan is detailed in the 1919 report, and has been further de- 
veloped throughout the past year through the generosity of the 
New York School of Fine and Applied Arts and Pratt Institute. 
Both of these institutions have been obliged to increase their 
fees to regular students, but have maintained unchanged their 
arrangements with the League. The deep appreciation of the 
department is expressed for this kindness, which has enabled 
the League, with the cooperation of the high schools, to send 



nine students forward on industrial art scholarships in January, 
1920, and twenty students in June, 1920. In each case the art 
school bears one-half the expense of the scholarship ; i. e., accepts 
the pupil for one-half the usual fee. The remaining half is 
equally borne by the League and the high school nominating the 
pupil. 

The names of the scholarship pupils and the contributing 
high schools follow : 

In January, 1920: Wadleigh High School, Hilda Weinstein; Wash- 
ington Irving High School, Rose Moselle and Margaret Frank; Evander 
Childs High School, Emil Maurer and Carl Wehde; Theodore Roosevelt 
High School, Arthur Hirshhorn; Boys' High School, Henry A. Gitlin; 
Commercial High School, Edward Northridge; Girls' High School, 
Elaine Mason. 

In June, 1920: Stuyvesant High School, A. Henry Nordhausen; Wad- 
leigh High School, Martha Cantfill; Washington Irving High School, 
Yvonne Grill and Helen Young; Evander Childs High School, Albert 
Bliss and Lillian Biedenmeister; George Washington High School, Mar- 
garet Goebel; Morris High School, Katherine Van Cook and Miss Leslie 
Goodman; Theodore Roosevelt High School, Edna Brandenburg; Bush- 
wick High School, George Rupprecht and Frederick Wichmann; Com- 
mercial High School, Norman Kenyon; Girls' High School, Priscilla 
Mullen; Eastern District High School, Bertha Orner; Erasmus Hall 
High School, Fred Reinert and Dellana Kimmelmann; Manual Training 
High School, Anna Thomas; Jamaica High School, Henry Cordes; 
Curtis High School, Secondina Boano. 

Saturday Classes for Pupils 

The Saturday class for talented pupils formed in February, 
1919, has been continued throughout the past year in the Wash- 
ington Irving High School. This class is also under the auspices 
of the School Art League, which defrays the teacher's salary. 
Twenty-six lessons were given beginning October 4th, 1919, and 
ending May 29th, 1920. Some thirty-four pupils regularly at- 
tended, many coming from distant high schools. Because of 
the limited accommodations, each school was permitted to send 
but two students, and was requested to send only pupils of un- 
usual ability. The results of the work have been of extraordi- 
nary interest, the high technical standards achieved having 
served to stimulate many other pupils to whom have been ex- 



hibited the drawings made by their associates. Because of this 
reason, the class, though small, has made a decided impress upon 
the department on the whole. Sincere thanks are due and are 
expressed to Miss Georgia C. Cowan, who taught the class 
throughout the fall term, and to Miss Ethel H. Averell and 
Miss Mary F. Doux, who conducted it during the spring term. 
In addition to the Saturday class noted above, the Brooklyn 
Institute Museum, in response to the recommendations made 
by the committee of high school teachers on School-Museum 
cooperation, established, in April, 1920, a Saturday class in draw- 
ing for students recommended by Brooklyn high schools. This 
continued very successfully with some thirty pupils for the re- 
mainder of the term under Mr. Frank Mura, of the Museum 
staff. . 

The regular attendance of the pupils of both these classes is 
significant evidence of the need which has been felt for this form 
of special instruction. 

Emma A. Jones 

With great regret, there is recorded the death, on July 24, 
1919, of Miss Emma A. Jones, of the art department of the Girls 
High School, Brooklyn. For thirty-eight years Miss Jones was 
connected with the city schools; at first, as an assistant to the 
supervior in the art department of the elementary schools of 
Brooklyn, and for the last twenty-seven years, as a teacher in the 
Girls High School. For a number of years she served as chairman 
of the art department of this school and carried forward the work 
under her direction with conscientious care. Miss Jones was 
possessed of marked power as a teacher and throughout her long 
professional career, remained a student continually interested in 
advancing her own technical skill. Imbued with a strong sense 
of responsibility, she aided in many ways in raising the general 
standards of the department and in assisting those who entered 
its corps. Of modest and unassuming disposition, she won the 
affectionate regard of her pupils and the personal esteem of her 
associates. She was a loyal and devoted servant of the city. 

232 



Pupils Under Instruction- in First Two High School Years 

Register of pupils, first year classes for the month of May, 

1920 Boys 14,230 

Girls 13,969 
Register of pupils, second year classes for the month of May, 

1920 Boys 9,167 

Girls 9,344 

Total number of pupils in first and second year classes 46,710 

Total number of pupils in first and second year classes May, 

1919 46,110 

Increase 600 

Note: Drawing is a required subject of all pupils in the first and sec- 
ond high school years, with the exception of a number in commercial 
courses that study drawing in the first year only. 

Respectfully submitted, 

JAMES P. HANEY, 
Director of Art in High Schools. 



233 



APPENDIX I 
SYNOPSIS— THREE-YEAR ELECTIVE COURSE 

Five periods of school work with five periods of home work required. 

Begun in Third Term— (First Half of Second High School year.) 

Pencil drawings in accented outline. Four to five completed plates 
in the term. Completed sheets on Bristol board of good size. Careful 
lettering on plates. Practice work to be done preparatory to each plate. 
First two plates of simple models in various positions to develop per- 
spective principles. Subsequent plates of more complicated forms with 
marked attention to constructive details. Latter plates should be from 
difficult models or simpler models in more difficult positions (lying 
foreshortened). Emphasis on careful accenting of all details. Last plate 
to be decorative drawing in gray wash or color. 

Fourth Term 

Pencil drawing in light and shade, followed by pen and ink drawings, 
or work in water color. Models should be offered in variety (shells, 
birds, animal forms, as well as familiar objects). Work should be made 
individual; i. e., adapted to the capacity of the student. 4 to 5 com- 
pleted plates during the term, with continued emphasis on construction 
and technique. Animal, bird forms, etc., should be secured from the 
American Museum of Natural History. 

Fifth Term 

Study of color. First plate: Chart of one or more colors scaled in 
intensity and value. Color definitions given. Value chart explained. 
Second Plate: Study in matching colors. Textile simple design copied 
and colors matched. (The textile should be attached to the plate). 
Third plate: Use good textile design. Copy this and change its color 
scheme to some specific color harmony. (Complementary, split com- 
plement, double complement, analogous, etc.) Color definitio.is of har- 
monies explained and transcribed in notebooks. Fourth plate: Original 
color scheme, using any simple motif for an all-over surface pattern. 

Sixth Term 

Freehand units explained and practice given in making these .n mono- 
chrome followed by similar units in color. First plate: 8 t3 10 original 
freehand bi-symmetrical units in color. Second plate: 8 to 10 freehand 
balanced units (not bi-symmetrical) in color. Third plate: Freehand 
rhythmic units in color. Fourth plate: Motif chart consisting of a decora- 
tive drawing of shell, butterfly, beetle, etc., with two or three derived 
units, two corner pieces and border, and an all-over pattern. Fifth plate: 

234 



Surface design in color from units derived from nature forms. (It is 
recommended that this design be of small motifs suitable for silk print- 
ing.) Sixth plate: If time offers, this plate should be made as a surface 
design for a cretonne with large motifs in color derived from nature units. 

Seventh and Eighth Terms 

The work in these terms will be centered round one subject, as Ap- 
plied Design, Costume Illustration, Interior Decoration, etc. The synop- 
sis for each course will be made out by the instructor giving the course 
in conference with the director. The work of this year shall be as closely 
adapted as possible to the needs of the school. 



APPENDIX II 

REPORT OF MUSEUM COOPERATION 

The following recommendations were made by a special committee 
of high school art teachers looking toward cooperation between the art 
museums of the city and the teachers and pupils of the city high schools: 

Museum Membership: It is recommended that a junior museum member- 
ship be established for high school students. The fee for this mem- 
bership to be some nominal sum (as $1), to cover the entire period 
of the student in the high school. In return for the fee the junior 
members should be invited to at least one special lecture a term and 
should be sent a special form of bulletin, from time to time, designed 
to interest them in the work and exhibitions of the museum. 

It is recommended that there be a special museum membership 
for teachers, which shall offer the advantage of membership at a re- 
duced fee. This will serve to interest and to bring into closer touch 
with the museum a large number of teachers who cannot afford to 
pay ten dollars a year for membership. 

Museum Classes: It is recommended that classes for teachers in the 
History of Art and allied topics be established with provision for the 
registration of attendance and for the holding of an examination after 
each course is finished. Credit for these courses should be obtained 
with the Board of Examiners and a nominal fee charged, if necessary. 
Similar courses on Art have been held at the City College, but it is 
manifest that the art museum is a more desirable place for a course 
in the History of Art, as the students can be led to study the paint- 
ings, sculpture, etc., to which reference is made in the lectures. 

It is recommended that similar courses on the History of Art be 
established for high school pupils and that these pupils be given 
high school credit for attendance at such museum courses. 

235 .• 



It is recommended that a class in drawing be also established for 
high school pupils. This could, with propriety, be offered on Satur- 
day mornings, the pupils coming to the museum to draw under the 
direction of some teacher especially employed for the purpose. . . 

Drawing Room in the Museum: It is recommended that one of the class 
rooms in the museum be equipped with model stands, etc., as a draw- 
ing room to be used, as indicated in the above recommendation. 

Gallery: It is recommended that a special gallery be set aside for the 
exhibition of school work and that a series of exhibitions of high 
school art work, or of material of particular interest to high school 
art students, be shown in this gallery. 

Loan Collections: It is recommended that traveling exhibitions be pre- 
pared and loaned to the respective high schools for exhibition in the 
high school halls. These collections might include textiles, prints, 
ceramics, carvings and framed pictures. 

Loan Collections of Photographs: It is recommended that limited col- 
lections of photographs be mounted in lightly framed panels and 
sent to the high schools as loans. Through this device a number of 
different photographs, dealing with one topic, could easily be shown 
at one time. 

Photograph Loan Department: It is recommended that a photograph 
loan department be established of a nature similar to the loan depart- 
ment for lantern slides. This would enable teachers in classes not 
equipped with a lantern to borrow, for illustrative purposes, the photos, 
using them in lessons on Design, Painting, Architecture,. Sculpture, 
Illustrations, etc. 

Loans of Cases: It is recommended that the museum loan to high 
schools, glass cases in which museum collections may be exhibited 
in the high school halls. Cases of this description, not in use in the 
museum, would prove of great value in the high schools. They would 
serve to extend the museum galleries directly into the high school 
buildings and would safely house museum loan collections. 

Slides: It is recommended that lists of lantern slides be prepared for 
high school use. These lists might be offered in printed form as aids 
to the high school instructor desirous of illustrating special talks on 
Pictures, Sculpture, Design, etc. They would be especially helpful 
to the teacher beginning work and somewhat at a loss to select, in- 
telligently, from the thousands of slides in the museum's generai 
collection. 

Docent: It is recommended that the museum docent establish close con- 
nection with the high schools by visits to the high school buildings 
and by talks given to the high school pupils in their class rooms. 



The direct connection thus established would prove of great value in 
developing knowledge on the part of the museum authorities of high 
school needs. 

Bulletins: It is recommended that the museum keep in touch with the 
high schools by means of different forms of bulletins. A number oi 
these are suggested, as follows: 

1. An educational bulletin: To go twice a year to teachers, 
giving lists of loans available, suggestions as to the use of museum 
collections, schedules of school exhibitions in the museum, adver- 
tisement of courses, etc. 

2. A junior membership bulletin: This should be issued at 
least twice a year and should go to the junior members of the 
museum and should contain information in regard to the museum 
collections of particular interest to the high school art student. 
This bulletin, if prepared with care, might serve as a letter to a 
large number of high school. pupils and bring them into closer 
personal touch with the museum. 

Posters: At least twice a year, the museum should issue an attractive 
poster designed to call attention to its collections. Several copies of 
this poster should be sent to each high school to be posted for several 
weeks in prominent places in the schools, that pupils might, con- 
tinually, have before them the invitation of the museum to come to 
see its treasures. 

Competitions: From time to time, special competitions should be organ- 
ized by the museum, with a view to interesting high school pupils. 
One very interesting type of such competition is suggested m which 
a given number (say 500) famous paintings are announced in a printed 
memorandum. The students of the different high schools are en- 
couraged to study these paintings and at a given time all desirous oi 
participating in the competition gather in the museum auditorium 
where they are furnished with a blank list of (say 100) pictures. The 
pictures (100) on which the test is to be made are now thrown one bj> 
one on the screen, each remaining on the screen fifteen seconds and 
an interval'of thirty seconds being allowed in which to -^rite the 
title of the picture and the name of the painter. The student who 
names the greatest number of pictures and paintings, correctly, is 
to be judged the winner and to receive some appropriate prize. 

Competitions like the above, if developed from time to time, would 
serve to interest a very considerable number of students in the museum 
and its collections, which they might, by this device, be made to study 
intensively. 



237 



MODERN LANGUAGES IN HIGH SCHOOLS 

Report of Lawrence A. Wilkins, 
Director of Modern Languages in High Schools 



Dr. John L. Tildsley, 

Associate Superintendent. 

Dear Sir: 

I have the honor of submitting to you the following report 
on the teaching of modern languages in the high schools for the 
two school years from August, 1918, to July, 1920, inclusive. 

The outstanding features of the past two years have been 
the following: 

Readjustment 

A gradual and satisfactory readjustment to the new order 
of things in the modern language field has taken place in this 
time. This readjustment had been under way for three or four 
years. The period of greatest upheaval and confusion was that 
of the school year 1917-1918, caused by the dislike of students 
for the study of German, and the action of the Board of Super- 
intendents and the Board of Education in May and June, 1918, 
which abolished all beginning classes in that language for the 
duration of the war. Even as recently as March, 1917, there 
were 23,898 students enrolled in German classes, as compared 
with 14,714 in French, 13,362 in Spanish, 17,409 in Latin and 103 
in Italian. How great has been the change in the situation may 
be seen from the fact that in March, 1919, there were 3,287 stu- 
dents in German classes, 20,920 in French, 25,729 in Spanish, 
15,234 in Latin and 66 in Italian; while in March, 1920, there 
were 532 enrolled in German, 20,336 in French, 28,801 in Spanish, 
14,845 in Latin, and 125 in Italian. 

Many of our oldest and most experienced language teachers 
were teachers of German. Many of these foresaw the inevitable 
and began, even in 1916 to prepare themselves to teach other 
subjects. Naturally, most of these turned to other modern lan- 
guages particularly French and Spanish. They prepared for 



this work by taking courses in summer schools of the univer- 
sities and by arduous private study, alone or with a tutor. Credit 
should be given to them for serious, earnest effort, and, in most 
cases, for satisfactory achievement. Very few of them assumed 
that, because of the tenure of office which teachers enjoy, the 
burden lay upon the Board of Education to provide them with 
work of some kind. That most of them acquitted themselves 
well in their efforts may be seen from the fact that of the 168 
teachers, who in November, 1918, were working under a German 
license, at least 120 have either secured from the Board of Ex- 
aminers a license in some other subject than German or are pre- 
paring for the examinations given by that Board. Those who 
have made no effort, are in most cases, teachers advanced in age 
who will soon retire. The licenses obtained already, or those 
which will be sought by these teachers, cover the whole field of 
teaching, including physical training, English, stenography and 
typewriting, biology, general science, commercial branches, and 
civics. The greater number of these teachers have been, or will 
be, licensed in French or Spanish. Of these it should be said that 
they have been handicapped by the impossibility, because of war 
times, of going to study during the summer months in France 
or in a Spanish-speaking country. Many are planning to study 
and travel abroad the summer of 1920. 

It should be recorded that the majority of our teachers of 
German were of American birth who had chosen to teach Ger- 
. man, a language which they had to acquire. Few of the entire 
group have shown anything but unquestionable and unques- 
tioned loyalty to our country during the war. These few of 
German birth who may not have been in sympathy with the 
aims of the United States have at least refrained from lauding 
Germany in their classrooms, though some have shown a decided 
lack of a sense of the fitness of things by persisting in needlessly 
speaking German in the school, outside the classroom. 

That holding a permanent license does not necessarily mean 
permanent work as a teacher is realized by those licensed in 
German ; for that reason they realize that they have had gener- 



ous treatment by the Board of Education in being allowed time 
in which to prepare themselves for a license in another subject. 
They have frequently expressed their appreciation of this liberal 
treatment. 

Need of Spanish Teachers 

In the face of the marked increase in the numbers of pupils 
electing Spanish there has been a dearth of teachers of that lan- 
guage for three or four years and not until the past year has it 
been possible to secure even approximately enough licensed 
teachers. Though the eligible lists in Spanish of the past year 
have been almost immediately exhausted, yet we are rapidly 
reaching the point where we shall have enough teachers of the 
language to fill positions. 

War French 

Because it seemed possible that the older boys of the high 
schools might see service in France, steps were taken in Sep- 
tember, 1918 to establish courses in "War French" for their 
benefit. A committee of French teachers was appointed to draw 
up a syllabus, and on October 1st, 1918, those boys who were 
eighteen years of age, who had no French and who desired to 
take this course, were given programs that included "War 
French." This course consisted of five periods a week. The 
bare essentials of the language were taught. Stress was placed 
on the colloquial language, and since nearly all of these boys 
had studied previously some other foreign language, ancient or 
modern, progress was rapid. The work was intensive and in- 
terest keen. Credit was allowed toward graduation to the ex- 
tent of one-half unit for one-half year of work. Eastern Dis- 
trict High School (18 pupils), High School of Commerce (91), 
Stuyvesant High School (80), Commercial High School (47), 
Morris High School (18), Erasmus Hall High School (20), De- 
Witt Clinton High School (27), organized classes according to 
the plan formulated. In most cases these schools reported that 
serious, hard work was done and that the pupils made rapid 
progress. For instance, in the Commercial High School, forty 
of the forty-seven boys successfully completed the first half-year 

340 



The signing of the armistice caused some to withdraw from the 
classes and the need having passed for such work, the courses 
were discontinued at the end of the term in January, 1919. They 
were very suggestive, however, in showing what can be accom- 
plished in rapid advancement, intensive work in French, and the 
results provide encouragement for work in future rapid advance- 
ment courses for older pupils of ability who can devote but a year 
to the study of a language. 

War Service of Modern Language Teachers , 

It is not possible to give in detail the work done by language 
teachers in war service; but some of them contributed able help 
to the winning of the war. It is fitting to mention here, at least 
briefly, some of these teachers and their work. Among the men 
were: Captain Robert B. Marvin, first assistant in German, and 
Lieutenant William A. Barlow, Spanish, both of Commercial 
High School, War Department, Washington; Captain Robert H. 
Keener, first assistant in German and French, Evander Childs 
High School, with the army of occupation in Germany ; Lieuten- 
ants John S. Norris, German, Stuyvesant; Eugene Jackson, 
German, and Austin M. Works, German, both of DeWitt Clinton, 
all in the army of occupation ; Major Colman D. Frank, first 
assistant in French, DeWitt Clinton, with the Second American 
Army during hostilities as Chief Intelligence Officer in charge 
of the Order of Battle of the German forces, and, after the 
armistice, Secretary of the American Mission and interpreter 
for the English-speaking allies at the Permanent International 
Armistice Commission of Spa ; decorated with the French Legion 
d'Honneur and the Belgian Croix de Guerre; Abraham Kroll, 
Spanish, DeWitt Clinton, special service in the navy; Lieuten- 
ants Herbert C. Skinner, French and Spanish, and Charles G. 
Montross, German and Spanish, both of the High School of 
Commerce and in the army of occupation; Sergt. J. B. Zacharie, 
French, DeWitt Clinton, with the French army from the begin- 
ning to the end of the war, who was in 1917-1918 assigned to 
the American army as interpreter and who won the Croix de 
Guerre for heroism at Verdun ; Sergt. Leonard Covello, Spanish, 
DeWitt Clinton, in the . intelligence police, Franco-Spanish 
border; Dr. Guillermo A. Sherwell, Spanish, New Utrecht High 

241 



School, legal adviser to the International High Commission, 
United States Section, Treasury Department, Washington ; and 
Edward O. Perry, first assistant in French and Spanish, New- 
town High School, special work for the peace conference dele- 
gation. All the above men volunteered their services. Among 
those who were drafted may be mentioned : Edward O. Dewing, 
French, and Henry Otten, German, both of Bushwick High 
School, both of whom studied in French Universities before re- 
turning to their teaching positions ; Michael Lieb, Spanish, Com- 
mercial High School ; A. A. Tausk, German, Boys High School, 
and Paul Radenhausen, German, DeWitt Clinton High School. 

As for the women, first mention should be made of the ex- 
ceptionally useful service rendered in the office of the Chief of 
Staff of the War Department, Washington, by Misses Ruth 
Willson, Bushwick High School, Anita Thomas, High School of 
Commerce, and Anne F. Carter, Morris High School, all teach- 
ers of Spanish. Miss Maria de G. Lopez, Spanish, Julia Richman 
High School, was active in ambulance, hospital, and canteen 
work in France, as were also Misses Lea B. Lanz, French, Far 
Rockaway High School, and Ida B. Lanz, French, Morris High 
School. Miss Grace Hemingway, Spanish, Newtown High 1 
School, and Miss Seeber, German of the same school, were also 
engaged in hospital and other work in France. 

These teachers largely because of their knowledge of lan- 
guages, have been able to serve well their country and due credit 
should be given to them. 

Practical Use of Modern Languages by Students Trained in Our 
Schools 

Directly and indirectly, information reaches me of how use- 
ful the knowledge of French learned in our schools was to our 
graduates who saw service in France. Several received promo- 
tion in the army ranks because of that knowledge. Others wrote 
of how well they had been able to make their way among the 
French people because they were able to understand and to use 
French intelligently. They were able to advance rapidly in their 
knowledge of the language because of the good foundation 
acquired in our courses in French. 

In the business world there is a steadily increasing demand 

i 242 



for employes who know French or Spanish. Many of our grad- 
uates are placed in business positions directly on leaving school 
because of their training in languages. Miss Isabella Hyde, 
head of department in the Julia Richman High School, has been 
particularly successful in placing girls who were trained in 
French. Some of them receive in a short time as much as twen- 
ty-five dollars a week for their services. Many are placed in 
stenographic positions in English who are later turned into work 
in French when their employers learn of their ability. Many of 
these girls are able to take stenographic notes in French. 

In the High School of Commerce and Commercial High 
School, and Newtown High School, training of a high order i? 
given in taking in shorthand notes dictation in Spanish. This 
training has been most successful and the students who receive 
it have no difficulty in taking and transcribing notes given in 
Spanish, or in taking notes in English and translating them into 
Spanish while transcribing them. The principal of the High 
School of Commerce reports that seventeen graduates of June, 
1919, are employed in houses where they make daily use of their 
Spanish, and that five large firms have requested that boys 
trained in Spanish be sent to them for employment. 

When such men as the head of the United States Bureau of 
Foreign and Domestic Commerce in New York City, the editor 
of the influential "American Exporter," the president of the 
United States Steel Products Company, and many others of 
equally high standing urge the thorough preparation of students 
in modern languages in order to help handle the great and rap- 
idly growing foreign commerce of this country, our schools 
should make special effort to meet this demand. I have definite 
suggestions to make for this work in the section of recommenda- 
tions of this report. 

It is, then, a source of gratification to know that we are meet- 
ing with some success in preparing students in French and Span- 
ish so that they are actually able to use one of these languages in 
practical, everyday life. We can do, and should do, even more. 

Failures in the First Term of Modern Language Study 

In a tabulation made of the percentage of success of first- 
term pupils in all the high schools for the term ending June 30, 



1919, it appeared that 69% of such pupils completed successfully 
their course in French, 69% in Latin and 74% in Spanish. In 
comparison with these results in foreign languages, 84% were 
successful in English, 79% in Algebra, 83% in Biology, 86% in 
Bookkeeping, 87% in Civics, 93% in Stenography and 81% in 
Typewriting. From these statistics it is evident that the greatest 
"mortality" among first-term pupils is found in foreign languages 
and mathematics. This condition, as far as languages are con- 
cerned, may have been due to one or more of the following 
causes : 

1. Foreign language study is an entirely new experience to 
most entering pupils. They have greater difficulty in "getting 
their bearings" in language study than they do, for example, in 
English or biology, subjects for which their training in the ele- 
mentary schools has given them some preparation. 

2. Some of the modern language teaching is doubtless poor. 
For example, the attempt is sometimes made, consciously or un- 
consciously, to adapt the pupil to the syllabus. (The statistics 
given cover a period in which the new syllabus of minima, term 
by term, in modern languages had been in force but one year.) 
Again some French departments are facing for the first time the 
problem of teaching French to entering pupils, as that language 
was given only as a second language in some schools. These 
departments have found difficulty in adapting their teaching to 
the new situation. 

3. Then there are the State examinations: To meet the 
Regents' requirements, especially those of the second year ex- 
amination, the rate of progress of the work from the first to the 
fourth terms has been too hurried. 

4. Pupils in the elementary schools have not invariably 
been trained to grasp the simplest concepts of inflection and 
syntax in English. 

5. First-term classes often are much too large, some of them 
having a register of from forty-two to forty-eight and many hav- 
ing thirty-five to thirty-eight. Effective teaching of modern lan- 
guages is quite impossible in crowded classes, especially of be- 
ginning students. Some departments of modern languages are 

244 



carrying far more than their share of the "pupil-period load." 

6. The assignment is often made of the poorest teachers 
(substitutes and others), to first-term pupils. These pupils 
should have the very best instruction the department can give. 

7. Native inability of many individuals to learn a foreign 
language especially a modern foreign language in which ear 
and tongue must be trained as well as eye and brain, may also 
be mentioned. The opinion of the writer, which is corroborated 
by most of the heads of modern language departments in our 
schools, is that fully 20% of those who study a modern language 
have little aptness therefor and should not waste their time and 
the teacher's time in undertaking that language. If this esti- 
mate is approximately correct, then a large proportion of the 
percentage of failures is accounted for. 

Whether the number of pupils direct from the elementary 
schools, who are lacking in that peculiar ability that makes lan- 
guage acquisition possible, is greater than the number of those 
who cannot study profitably a somewhat abstract branch of math- 
ematics, like algebra, is, of course, problematical, and is a ques- 
tion that we need not discuss here; but that those unfitted for 
foreign language study should, in justice to both themselves and 
to the school system, be eliminated from language classes, all 
educators are ready to admit. The question, then, is how to ef- 
fect the elimination. 

There are two ways open, one empirical, a trial and error 
method, and the other scientific, or a way that can and should 
be made scientific. 

The first way is carried into practice thus : All pupils desir- 
ing to study a language are allowed to do so. For a certain 
period, say four weeks, all these pupils are under close observa- 
tion and testing. The teacher gives close attention to individuals 
as well as to the class as a whole. The teacher has at least one 
conference with each pupil in that time. The pace of the class 
is to be somewhat slower than usual. After a series of oral and 
written tests, the teacher decides that certain pupils are quite 
unfitted for continuing the study of the language. Those pupils 
are then either assigned to classes in an alternative subject 
(typewriting or general science, for example), or their periods 

245 



in some other subject in which they may be doing poorly are 
doubled. There are practical difficulties here in program-making 
but they need not and should not be insurmountable. 

For experimental purposes, I drew up the following plan and 
it was presented and discussed in a meeting of the high school 
principals. No conclusion, however, was reached. 

1. All pupils choosing a foreign language (except German) 
will be assigned to a class in that language. 

2. Classes in the first-term languages will be formed with a 
maximum of forty members. 

3. Classes in the subjects alternative to a beginning lan- 
guage will" be found in such a way as to allow for a 15% addi- 
tion thereto at the end of the fourth week of the term. 

4. At the end of the fourth week, transfers from beginning 
language classes to beginning classes in alternative subjects 
may be made at the discretion of the principal, on the recom- 
mendation of the chairman of the language department con- 
cerned. 

5. Chairmen and teachers of languages will therefore have 
under close observation for four weeks the students in these 
classes. Close study of the pupils and frequent tests must be 
used to determine what pupils are quite unfit for language study. 
After such observation and tests, the chairman may transfer not 
to exceed 15% of the students in the different beginning lan- 
guage classes to beginning classes in alternative subjects. 

6. Special consideration should be given by the principal 
or his representative to the cases of those pupils who intend to 
enter college and must have a foreign language for that purpose. 
If there is a sufficient number of such pupils, who are deficient in 
language ability, a separate class or classes for them might be 
formed. 

These suggestions, made in January, 1919, were followed in 
part in several schools in the beginning of the term in the fol- 
lowing February. In the Commercial High School eighty boys 
at the end of four weeks were, after careful observation and test- 

246 



ing, eliminated from Spanish classes and placed in classes in 
typewriting and woodwork. In the Julia Richman High School 
a number of pupils were similarly eliminated after a period of 
a few weeks. In the Spanish department of the Erasmus Hall 
High School those who were failing at the end of six weeks 
were allowed to drop some other subject and were given a pro- 
gram of ten hours a week in Spanish. 

Throughout the schools a special study has been made of the 
causes of failure in modern languages. I have held conferences 
with the assembled staff of various departments in which an 
attempt was made to analyze the cause for failures and suggest 
remedies. These conferences have had at least one result: The 
teachers have been aroused to the need of adapting their work 
to the ability of their pupils. I find that in some cases the diffi- 
culty has been due to "an attitude of mind" of the teachers, 
which has as its chief fault the desire to adapt the pupil to a pre- 
conceived course of study rather than to adapt the course to the 
needs and abilities of the pupil. However, this attitude has, I 
think, been corrected to a great extent. 

Some schools already have a scheme for adjusting the pro- 
gram of a pupil at the end of five or ten weeks, but no alternative 
subject is taken up. He is usually "dropped" or "doubled." It 
seems that the adjustment should be made earlier in the term, 
thus saving the pupil's time and making his success in the alter- 
native subject more likely. 

Such is the "trial and error" plan. But like all such plans it 
is likely to be a costly one, involving loss of time, derangement 
of programs and so forth. The alternative seems to be a pre- 
determination test in which a carefully devised series of tests is 
used to determine the pupil's probable fitness for language study. 
Professor Briggs and Dr. Kelley, of Teachers' College, Columbia 
University, conducted in 1918-1919 "General Intelligence" tests 
of the boys of the incoming class in the High School of Com- 
merce. It is the opinion of the language teachers of that school 
that the tests did not throw much light upon probable ability in 
language acquisition. However, since the results have not yet 
been published, any conclusion is now somewhat premature. 



In the endeavor to establish, eventually, a predetermination 
of prognosis test, I devised a tentative or experimental test of 
this kind which was given to the entering pupils of the DeWitt 
Clinton High School in the first week in February, 1919. It was 
also used in September in the Newtown and Curtis High 
Schools and other schools are planning to use it. That it is im- 
perfect and subject to much improvement I am the first to real- 
ize. But it at least has served as a point of departure and from 
it we shall develop, it is hoped, a thoroughly scientific predeter- 
mination test that will be found useful. 

It cannot be given in full here, but it has been published in 
the "Bulletin of High Points" for February, 1919. In brief, it 
consists of five parts: I. Visual-motor (seeing and writing) ; II. 
Aural-motor (hearing and writing) ; III. Visual-oral (seeing and 
speaking) ; IV. Aural-oral (hearing and speaking) ; and V. 
Grammar concepts, to test previous training in the fundamentals 
of English grammar. 

Careful tabulations of results were made by the chairmen of 
modern language departments in DeWitt Clinton, Newtown and 
Curtis High Schools. These tabulations were printed in the 
"Bulletin of High Points" for October, 1919, and March, 1920. 
It seems unnecessary to give here these tabulations. The con- 
clusion of Mr. Leonard, Chairman in the Curtis High School, 
was expressed thus : "My conclusion, therefore, is that the 
prognosis test does the work which it is intended to do ; it lets 
us know beforehand which pupils are to be failures ; we can then 
eliminate the pupils from the class where they Would waste the 
time and energy of their teachers and themselves, and thus 
eliminate waste from the school system, which is the purpose 
of our efforts in this matter." 

Such tests should be used chiefly to determine the probable 
ability of success of the students in foreign language acquisi- 
tion and should serve as a basis for their classification in slow, 
normal, and rapid advancement classes. At the end of four full 
weeks of study in the first term all who failed in the predetermi- 
nation test and any others whose work has proved unsatisfac- 
tory should be given a simple Elimination Test, based directly 
upon the class work of that period. Those failing therein should 



be eliminated altogether from foreign language classes and 
should be given programs of study which will enable them to 
concentrate their efforts upon work in which they can attain 
success. At the end of their first year in school they may then 
be allowed to again enter a modern language class if they have a 
desire and good reason for doing so. 

The test mentioned has been improved, I believe, by tire 
addition of a linguistic-memory test and a reduction in import- 
ance of the test in grammar concepts. 



Syllabus of Minima 

Beginning in September, 1918, the new syllabus of minima in 
modern languages was put into effect. This syllabus, which 
indicates the minimum points of grammar and amount of read- 
ing for each of the eight terms of each of the modern languages, 
has already proved to be of great benefit. It has made the work 
of the different schools uniform in the amount and kind of min- 
imum work done and has set standards which are reasonable 
and attainable. 

Correlation With the Work of the Intermediate Schools 

The new syllabus in modern languages in the intermediate 
schools, which has been based upon the syllabus for high schools 
mentioned in the preceding paragraph, has set a standard in 
the much needed correlation of the work of the intermediate 
schools with that of the high schools. This correlation should 
go far towards making more effective the teaching of modern 
languages in both^ types of schools. It seems that similarly 
correlated syllabuses should be made in other subjects common 
to both schools. 

Supervision 

The work of supervising the modern language work the past 
two years has been unusually arduous, due to the necessity of 
securing, as quickly and efficiently as possible, the readjustment 
to which I referred in the first paragraphs of this report. Many 

249 



new teachers (especially of Spanish) have begun work in our 
schools; many German teachers, not licensed in French and 
Spanish, needed helpful, constructive criticism ; and the numer- 
ous substitutes employed, most of them for continuous service 
for a year or half year, were particularly in need of help. I have 
held a number of meetings, in a central location, of new teach- 
ers, older teachers engaged for the first time in teaching French 
or Spanish, and substitute teachers. To them I gave talks on 
methods of teaching and upon how to meet the particular diffi- 
culties in teaching this or that point in French or Spanish. I 
have continued the practice, followed for some time, of holding 
conferences of all the heads of departments. I have visited every 
teacher who was a candidate for renewal of license, permanent 
license, and, until the abolishment of the superior merit law, all 
candidates for approval at the end of the sixth year of service, 
or for an award of superior merit for the ninth or twelfth year. 
After each visit I held a personal conference with the teacher 
and also made a written report, copies of which were sent to the 
Associate Superintendent in Charge of High Schools, the Dis- 
trict Superintendent assigned to High Schools, the principal, the 
head of the department, and the teacher. I have held conferences 
with assembled departments and with principals. I have made 
reports and recommendations to the Associate Superintendent 
concerning the efficiency of heads of departments. 

There are engaged in modern language instruction 366 
teachers. In addition to these I was assigned, in October, 1918, 
to the inspection of work of heads of departments and teachers 
of Latin, 154 in number, and made reports upon these teachers 
in the manner described above for modern language teachers. 

The regulations concerning the supervision of teachers, for- 
mulated in the conference of the supervising officers of the High 
School Division, have been very effective in bringing about uni- 
formity in supervision by the heads of departments of modern 
languages. 

First Assistants 

There is at present an insufficient number of first assistants in 
modern languages in our schools. Greater effectiveness in the 
organization and supervision of departments would be obtained 

250 



by the appointment of first assistants, duly licensed and compen- 
sated for this service. Four such first assistants were appointed 
February 1, 1920, from the eligible list of first assistants in 
modern languages. There remain on this list nine men and six 
women. 

I wish to record here my testimony to the spirit of readiness 
to cooperate, the effectiveness of supervision and the willing- 
ness to experiment in the desire for improvement that have 
characterized the "work of the vast majority of first assistants 
and chairmen of modern language departments. 

Modern Language Exhibit 

A very interesting travelling exhibit of material illustrative 
of the language, life, and customs of France, Spain and Spanish- 
America was assembled in December, 1919, and January, 1920, 
and is now being shown in each one of the high schools for a 
period of one week. This material was all of such a nature that 
it could be mounted on heavy cardboards, 22 by 28 inches, and 
larger. About 400 such cardboards were prepared. One repre- 
sentative for French and one for Spanish in each school formed 
a general committee to collect material and a central committee 
selected and mounted the material collected. 

Postcards, coins, stamps, newspapers and magazines, laces, 
textiles, fine collections of posters, especially from France, al- 
bums of pupils' work, maps, charts of all kinds and a few sta- 
ti<= +: '^i tables are the chief elements of the exhibit. 

Financial aid and active participation in this work were pro- 
vided by the French Teachers' Association and by the New 
York Chapter of The American Association of Teachers of Span- 
ish. We also had the very valuable help of the French Interna- 
tional High Commission and many business houses engaged in 
international commerce. 

In the schools where it has been displayed the exhibit has 
aroused very keen interest on the part of pupils, teachers, and 
parents and friends of the pupils. It has served to awaken and 
increase the appreciation of the importance of modern language 

251 



studies. A permanent exhibit of this kind would be most help- 
, ful and it would be possible to establish such a permanent ex- 
. hibit if we but had space for it in some central location. 

t 

Appointment of Director 

; - - 

: By action of the Board of Education on December 22, 1919, 
1 was appointed to be Director of Modern Languages in High 
Schools on and after January 1, 1920. I had "been in charge of 
this branch of instruction since February 23, 1917. 

"High Spots " 

It is pertinent to mention here briefly the salient good features 
of modern language work during the past two years to which 
allusion has not already been made in this report. 

1. The use of the intensive study period and supervised 
study in several schools, notably Commercial High School, Bay 
Ridge High School, and DeWitt Clinton High Schools. 

2. The use of the phonograph in class and club work and in 
aiding to memorization of selected passages of prose and poetry, 
especially in the French Department of the Washington Irving 
High School, and the Spanish Department of the Bushwick High 
School. 

3. The establishment of rapid and slow advancement classes, 
especially in Newtown High School, and Erasmus Hall High 
School. 

4. Improvement in the form of the recitation as to clearness 
of speech of pupils and neatness of board work, especially in 
Curtis High School, Bay Ridge High School, Morris High 
School, and Eastern District High School. 

5. The establishment or maintenance of excellent French 
and Spanish clubs, especially in the DeWitt Clinton High 
School, Erasmus Hall High School, High School of Commerce, 

■the Washington Irving High School, Theodore Roosevelt High 
School, Girls High School, Stuyvesant High School, Bryant High 



School, Bay Ridge High School, and Eastern District High 
School. A Latin-American club is doing interesting work in 
DeWitt Clinton High School. 

6. The establishment or maintenance of interesting school 
papers in French or Spanish, especially in the High School of 
Commerce, Julia Richman High School, Bay Ridge High School, 
Wadleigh High School, DeWitt Clinton High School, and Evan- 
der Childs High School. 

7. The use of abundant realia and illustrative material, 
especially in Bay Ridge High School, Stuyvesant High School, 
Richmond Hill High School, Eastern District High School, 
Washington Irving High School, and Bryant High School. 

8. Correlation of modern language work with the library of 
the school or with a neighboring branch of the public library, 
especially, in the Girls High School and Eastern District High 
School. 

9. Correlation of the modern language department with 
other departments, especially in Eastern District High SchooL 
DeWitt Clinton High School and Washington Irving High 
School. 

/ 

10. Exhibits of material and realia used and of work done 

by pupils of the department. Air. Leon Sinagnan, head of the 
Spanish department of Stuyvesant High School, had an excellent 
exhibit open to the public during the week of June 9th. He had 
the cooperation of the United States Bureau of Foreign and Do- 
mestic Commerce, and of several banks and commercial houses 
in' arranging this excellent display which created much favorable 
comment. Dr. Alfred Coester, a teacher in the Evander Childs 
High School, arranged an interesting exhibit of class work in 
Spanish in that school. 

11. Cooperation with business houses in the placement of 
pupils who have a knowledge of French or Spanish, especially 
the Julia Richman High School, High School of Commerce, 
Morris High School, Commercial High School, and Newtown 
High School. 



12. Illustrated lectures in the foreign language by teachers 
in the life, customs and art of the foreign countries, especially in 
Julia Richman High School, DeWitt Clinton High School, Wash- 
ington Irving High School, Richmond Hill High School, and the 
Eastern District High School. 

13. Performances of play in French or Spanish, especially 
in Washington Irving High School, Morris High School, Julia 
Richman High School, Flushing High School, High School of 
Commerce, DeWitt Clinton High School, and New Utrecht High 
School. 

14. Departmental libraries, especially in the Spanish De- 
partment of Washington Irving High School, and the DeWitt 
Clinton High School. 

15. Chorus singing of songs in the foreign language, espe- 
cially in the Spanish Department of Washington Irving High 
School, Girls High School, and Eastern District High School. 

16. Special help to backward pupils in coaching classes, 
especially, Stuyvesant High School, Newton High School, and 
DeWitt Clinton High School. 

17. Campaigns to improve the pronunciation of the foreign 
language by pupils, especially by Mr. Clement G. Elmer, head 
of the French Department, Stuyvesant High School ; also by Mr. 
A. B. Cohen, head of the modern languages, Eastern District 
High School. 

18. Correspondence in the foreign language of our pupils 
with pupils in countries where that language is spoken, especially 
in Bushwick High School, Eastern District High School, Julia 
Richman High School, Flushing High School and Evander 
Childs High School. 

Recommendations 
I recommend : 

1, That beginning classes in foreign languages be formed 
with a maximum number of thirty-five pupils. Many of our 
beginning classes have contained as many as forty pupils and 
some have even approximated fifty on register. It is obvious 



that the best work cannot possibly be done, especially in begin- 
ning classes, when so many are enrolled in one group. Modern 
methods of teaching languages require much activity and con- 
stant reaction on the part of the pupil who must use the foreign 
language to express his activity and reaction. Authorities in 
the modern language field agree that not more than twenty 
should be placed in a beginning class. We should be content 
if the limit were fixed at thirty-five. 

2. That courses in Portuguese be established in our com- 
mercial high schools. The largest country of South America, 
Brazil, has a population of nineteen million people, most of 
whom use only Portuguese. Our commercial and friendly rela- 
tions with that country are daily becoming more significant. 
Our young people should begin now to prepare themselves in 
that language in order to be able to render aid in furthering the 
commerce between Brazil and the United States. There are now 
only a few teachers equipped to teach Portuguese. 

3. That in the commercial courses of three years in length 
provision be made for an elective course in intensive work in 
either French or Spanish. In this course the language chosen 
would be taken for five periods during the first year and ten 
periods per week during the second and third years. In this 
way real experts in French and Spanish, trained particularly for 
commercial work, can be developed. Only those showing lan- 
guage ability above the average should be permitted to choose 
this intensive course. 

4. That teachers of modern languages be allowed the sab- 
batical year, to consist of a full year on full pay. The training, 
enthusiasm and success of the teachers of French and Spanish 
would by this means be greatly improved. It seems to be a 
sound proposition that these teachers need the benefit of resi- 
dence and study in the foreign country where the language 
they teach is spoken more than do teachers of other subjects. 
The summer vacation is too short a period for serious, consecu- 
tive work abroad and the expense involved is out of all propor- 
tion to the benefit derived. The times urgently demand teachers 
of modern languages who know well not only the language they 

255 



teach, but also the life and customs of the people who speak that 
language. Only residence and study in a country for a minimum 
period of one year can supply the necessary familiarity with the 
life of that country. The sabbatical year on full pay would, more 
than any other one thing, insure the great improvement of lan- 
guage instruction. 

Our "splendid isolation" as a nation is gone, probably never 
to return. In order that our citizens may perform well their 
part as members of the leading nation of the world they must 
know more thoroughly than has been customary heretofore, the 
languages of those non-English speaking nations with whom we 
shall have much to do in the future. Those nations are those 
that speak French or Spanish. The high schools of this city, 
the metropolis of the nation, should give more and constantly 
improved training in these languages in view of the need above 
mentioned. A reduction of the work in modern languages, ad- 
vocated by some, would be a serious mistake, not only as con- 
cerns the commercial and practical side of American life but also 
in connection with the general cultural training of the next gen- 
eration of citizens. 

The "Bulletin of High Points" in the Work of the High Schools 

From April, 1917, to November, 1919, the monthly Bulletin 
of High Points was published exclusively for the guidance of 
teachers of modern languages. Its articles, short editorials, and 
"high points" did much to standardize and inspire those teach- 
ers. Modern language teachers in many cities heard of this little 
publication and asked to have it sent to them. It was regarded 
as a unique and very helpful bulletin. 

Teachers of other subjects — of English and History in par- 
ticular — in our high schools, planned to issue a similar monthly. 

At the suggestion of Dr. Ettinger, the scope of the Bulle- 
tin was extended to include all subjects taught in the high 
schools. To carry out the project a board of editors was ap- 
pointed to aid me in editing the enlarged publication. These 
editors are Dr. Helen L. Cohen, first assistant in Engish in the 
Washington Irving High School ; Mrs. Evelyn W. Allan, teacher 
of salesmanship, Julia Richman High School, who was replaced 

25G 



by Mr. L. Brewster Smith, commercial branches, High School 
of Commerce, when Mrs. Allan became , principal of the Girls 
Commercial High School ; Mr. Matthew L. Dann, first assistant 
in history, Richmond Hill High School ; Dr. John D. McCarthy, 
chairman of the department of Biology, DeWitt Clinton High 
School, who, when he secured leave of absence for study, was 
replaced by Dr. E. A. Bedford, now chairman of Biology of the 
same school ; Mr. George M. Falion, chairman of the department 
of Latin, Bushwick High School; and Mr. Charles H. Teeter, 
first assistant in mathematics, Commercial High School, and 
representative of evening high schools and continuation classes. 

The cooperation of all supervising officers, principals, heads 
of departments and teachers has been sought and secured to a 
good extent, to obtain contributions to the Bulletin. A repre- 
sentative has been appointed in each school to gather material 
and to forward it to the editors. Good interest has been mani- 
fested. Some excellent articles have been contributed by teach- 
ers, principals, supervisors, directors, and superintendents. The 
"high points" printed each month have created much favorable 
comment and have stimulated teachers to greater resourceful- 
ness in their work. Many educators in different parts of the 
country have at their request been placed on the mailing list of 
the Bulletin. 

Each month a sufficient number of copies is printed to supply 
each teacher in the day and evening high schools. 

It is hoped to make this publication constantly more inter- 
esting and helpful. 

Respectfully submitted, 

LAWRENCE A. WILKINS, 
Director of Modern Languages in High Schools 



257 



APPENDIX A 

The University of the State of New York 
The State Department Education 

Before the Commissioner 

In the Matter of the Appeal of Thomas Mufson, A. Henry 
Schneer and Samuel D. Schmalhausen, Teachers in the 
DeWitt Clinton High School in the City of New York, from 
the Action of the Board of Education of Such City in Dismiss- 
ing Them from the Service of the Department of Education. 

Gilbert E. Roe, attorney for appellants. 

William P. Burr, corporation counsel (Charles Mclntyre and 
William E. C. Mayer, of counsel), attorney for respondents. 

The appellants, Thomas Mufson, A. Henry Schneer and 
Samuel D. Schmalhausen, were teachers in the DeWitt Clinton 
High School in the city of New York. Each of these appellants 
was suspended from his position by John L. Tildsley, associate 
superintendent of schools of the city of New York, on or about 
November 12, 1917. The said Superintendent Tildsley also 
preferred charges against each of such appellants charging them 
with "conduct unbecoming a teacher." Each appellant was 
notified in writing that charges had been preferred against him 
and that a trial of such charges would be held before the com- 
mittee on high schools and training schools of the board of edu- 
cation on November 22, 1917. A copy of the charges and the 
specifications thereof was annexed to the notice in each case and 
served personally upon each of the appellants. 

Each of the appellants answered the charges preferred against 
him and denied the specifications contained therein. Each of 
them also demurred to the charges as insufficient in law upon the 
face thereof, in that the law did not provide for the preferment 
of charges of "conduct unbecoming a teacher" and that the 
facts alleged were not sufficient to constitute "gross misconduct 
or insubordination, or neglect of duty or general inefficiency." 
Each appellant also alleged in his answer, on information and 
belief, "That Hon. John Whalen, Chairman of the Board of 

258 



Education's Committee on High Schools and Training Schools, 
has heretofore made certain statements to diverse persons which 
show that he is prejudiced against the respondents and prejudged 
the case, and is therefore ineligible to participate in the trial 
thereof." 

A hearing was had in each of the cases before the said com- 
mittee on high schools and training schools. Each of the appel- 
lants appeared by counsel. Witnesses in support and defense of 
the charges were examined and cross-examined by the attorneys 
appearing for the respective parties. The committee presented a 
separate report in each case to the board of education at its meet- 
ing held on December 12, 1917, sustaining the charges preferred 
against each of the appellants and recommending that each of 
them be dismissed from the service of the department of educa- 
tion of the city of New York. Resolutions sustaining the charges 
preferred against said appellants and dismissing them from the 
service of the said department of education were then adopted by 
the vote of a majority of the members of said board. There were 
thirty-five members of the board present and voting upon each of 
the resolutions. The resolution dismissing the appellant Mufson 
was adopted by a vote of twenty-six to nine ; the resolution dis- 
missing the appellant Schneer was adopted by a vote of thirty to 
five; and the resolution dismissing the appellant Schmalhausen 
was adopted by a vote of twenty-five to ten. 

The appeals to the Commissioner of Education are from the 
resolutions of the board of education dismissing the appellants 
from their positions. While the specifications of charges against 
the appellants are not identical, many of the questions raised in 
each case are the same. The cases were heard and determined at 
the same time and acted upon by the board of education at one 
meeting. They were in effect submitted to the Commissioner of 
Education as one appeal and were argued at the same time, and it 
is therefore proper that they should be considered in one 
decision. 

The appellants in their answers in these proceedings as well 
as upon the trial before the committee of the board of education 
insisted that because of certain statements made by Mr. Whalen, 
the chairman of said committee, he was prejudiced against appel- 



lants, had prejudged their cases, and was therefore ineligible to 
participate in the trial. The committee had before it the state- 
ments made by Mr. Whalen, and after deliberation determined 
that such statements and the attitude of Mr. Whalen toward the 
appellants were not such as to make it improper for him to serve 
as chairman of the committee to which the charges had been 
referred. There is nothing disclosed in the record of these cases 
indicating that the chairman had in any way prejudged such 
cases, that he was prejudiced against the appellants, or that he 
was otherwise disqualified to preside at the trial. A careful 
examination of the record shows that the rulings of the chairman 
were impartial, that appellants were given full and adequate 
opportunity to present their defense and that there was no action 
upon the part of the committee or its chairman which deprived 
appellants of their just rights upon the trial. 

The voluminous papers in this proceeding, including the 
record of the trial, the stenographer's transcript of the oral argu- 
ment and the briefs submitted by counsel, have been examined 
with care and given proper consideration. Some evidence was 
admitted upon the trial which was immaterial and improper, but 
such evidence does not appear to have been decisive in the deter- 
mination of the issues involved in the case. The determination 
of such issues by the board of education must stand or fall upon 
the evidence admitted in the case which was proper and admissi- 
ble. The settled rule is that the admission of immaterial or im- 
proper evidence does not of itself constitute a ground for reversal. 
Where a trial is before a court or referee the admission of such 
evidence is not deemed reversible error, where it does not appear 
that it was prejudicial to the defeated party. If there was suffi- 
cient competent evidence to sustain the findings or conclusions 
of the court, the error may be disregarded. Maileer v. Express 
Propeller Line, Gl N. Y. 312; Maldonado v. Espen, 195 id. 541. 

As stated in 4 Corpus Juris, 969, "A judgment will not be 
reversed because of the erroneous admission of evidence where it 
did not affect the result, or could not have done so, where the 
legal evidence abundantly established the case, * * * or 
where it is apparent that the verdict would or must have been 
the same had the evidence not been admitted." 



260 



The board of ^ education is charged with the general supervi- 
sion of all the educational interests of the city. The board is 
responsible in a measure for the esprit de corps obtaining in the 
teaching service. It is legally charged with the employment of 
teachers, the discipline of teachers, and the removal of teachers. 
It may make such inquiries' in relation to the general conduct and 
the attitude of teachers on matters affecting the schools and their 
influence over the children under their instruction as may be 
necessary. It may make such investigations as are required when 
charges are preferred against teachers. In the performance of all 
these duties it is exercising an administrative function. The set- 
tled rule is, that a board acting in this capacity "does not consti- 
tute a court; its proceedings are not to be controlled or decided by 
the same degree of formality that would be required upon a 
charge of a criminal offense before ordinary tribunals of justice." 
People ex rel. Flanagan v. Board of Police Commissioners, 91 
N. Y. 97. 

Three other questions are presented for determination upon 
this appeal : 

First. Were the charges presented against appellants based 
upon grounds which constitute an offense for which the law 
authorizes the removal of a teacher employed in the schools of 
the city of New York? 

Second. Did the board of education possess the jurisdiction 
to dismiss the appellants upon the recommendation of the com- 
mittee on high schools and training schools after a hearing of the 
charges against the appellants before such committee? 

Third. Do the facts relating to the conduct of each of these 
appellants and to the discharge of their obligation as teachers in 
the public schools of the city and the State, presented upon the 
trial or hearing before the committee, constitute sufficient cause 
to justify the action of the board of education in dismissing said 
appellants from the teaching service of the city? 

Chapter 786 of the Laws of 1917 added article 33-a to the 
Education Law. This law is known as the City School Law and 
will be referred to hereafter by such title. Such law became 
effective June 8, 1917. It defines the powers and duties of boards 

261 



of education in cities and contains the general provisions of law 
regulating the administration of schools in cities. Subdivision 
3 of section 872 of such law provides in part as follows : "Such 
persons and all others employed in the teaching, examining or 
supervising service of the schools of a city, who have served the 
full probationary period, or have rendered satisfactorily an equiv- 
alent period of service prior to the time this act goes into effect, 
shall hold their respective positions during good behavior and 
efficient and competent service, and shall not be removable except 
for cause after a hearing by the affirmative vote of a majority of 
the board." 

Previous to the enactment of such City School Law, section 
1093 of the charter of the city of New York specified that a 
teacher employed in the schools of such city might be removed 
for one of the four following offenses : gross misconduct, insub- 
ordination, neglect of duty or general inefficiency. That section 
of the charter of the city of New York was specifically repealed 
by the City School Law and under the above provision of such 
law a teacher employed in the schools of New York city may now 
be removed for cause. The law does not specify the offense for 
which such teacher may be removed but simply provides that a 
teacher may be removed for cause. The law, as claimed by coun- 
sel for appellants, does not specifically provide that a teacher 
shall be removable for "conduct unbecoming a teacher." The 
provision that a teacher shall be removable for cause does not 
introduce a new element in the law which requires judicial inter- 
pretation to ascertain its meaning. The law regulating the re- 
moval of teachers in all parts of the State except New York city 
has contained the provision for many years that a teacher shall 
be removable for cause. The Commissioner of Education has 
interpreted the meaning of cause in many cases which have been 
before him for determination upon appeal. It is a well-settled 
rule that cause means some substantial, reasonable, valid cause — 
some action or conduct on the part of the teacher which renders 
his service undesirable or which prevents such teacher from 
exercising the wholesome influence which a teacher, should 
exercise over his pupils. Conduct on the part of a teacher which 
is sufficient cause for removal is "conduct unbecoming a teacher." 
While the law does not specifically provide for the removal of a 

262 



teacher for "conduct unbecoming a teacher," it is entirely proper, 
and within the causes for which charges may be preferred, for 
the school authorities to prefer charges against a teacher for 
"conduct unbecoming a teacher." 

Counsel for appellants makes an extended argument to sus- 
tain the theory that the main purpose of subdivision 3 of section 
872 was to make the tenure of teachers secure. The enactment of 
this provision of the law was not predicated upon that ground. 
This provision of law was enacted for the primary purpose of 
providing the schools with efficient and suitable teachers and of 
guaranteeing, so far as may be possible, to the children of the city 
their right to receive instruction from competent, experienced 
and proper teachers. The theory is that permanent tenure will 
attract men and women of the best intellectual attainments to the 
teaching service ; that teachers will make more thorough academic 
and professional preparation, will remain in the service longer 
and thus bring to the support of the schools teachers whose 
training and experience will be a valuable asset. The primary 
interest, however, which the State seeks to protect is the right of 
the child. For this same reason the Legislature very properly 
provided for the elimination of inefficient, unworthy and unde- 
sirable teachers. This very subdivision of the act therefore ex- 
pressed a limitation upon the tenure of a teacher by conditioning 
such tenure upon good behavior and efficient and competent ser- 
vice and by providing for the removal of a teacher whose conduct 
and service did not conform to these standards. 

To support his argument on this point counsel claims that the 
disciplinary powers over teachers which the previous law con- 
ferred on a board of education have been eliminated under the 
provisions of the City School Law. He is wrong in this conten- 
tion. Not one of the disciplinary powers which were lawfully ex- 
ercised by the board of education over the teachers employed in 
the schools has been taken from such board. The powers of a 
board of education have been increased in this respect if modified 
at all. Under the former provisions of the city charter the disci- 
plinary powers of the board were written in the statutes and such 
powers were limited to those which were specifically expressed in 
the law. Under the terms of the City School Law of 1917 the 
board of education is given the broad power to prescribe regu- 



1'ations to govern and control all affairs under its direction. The 
board may therefore provide for suspension, forfeiture of salary, 
and in other ways discipline teachers for improper conduct. The 
power conferred upon the board under subdivision 9 of section 
868 is as follows : "To prescribe such regulations and by-laws 
as may be necessary to make effectual the provisions of this 
chapter and for the conduct of the proceedings of said board and 
the transaction of its business affairs, for the general manage- 
ment, operation, control, maintenance and discipline of the 
schools, and of all other educational, social or recreational activ- 
ities and other interests under its charge or direction." 

This provision of the law is broad and comprehensive. There- 
in is found a direct reference to the power of the board of educa- 
tion to regulate the discipline of the schools and every interest 
under the charge and direction of the board of education, which 
certainly includes the teachers and their proper relation to the 
schools. 

Subdivision 10 of the said section 868 confers further powers 
upon the board of education in the following language : "To 
perform such other duties and possess such other powers as may 
be required to administer the affairs placed under its control 
and management, to execute all powers vested in it, and to pro- 
mote the best interests of the schools and other activities com- 
mitted to its care." 

In this specific grant of power the Legislature intended to 
confer the broadest power possible upon the board of education. 
That body is specifically given such additional powers which are 
not enumerated in the law as may be necessary to administer the 
affairs lawfully placed under its charge, and such board is also 
authorized "to execute all powers vested in it" and "to promote 
the best interests of the schools." 

As pointed out by counsel for appellants the Commissioner of 
Education held in the Henrietta Rodman deFremary case (Deci- 
sion of Commissioner, June 8, 1915) in construing section 1093 
of the charter, as follows : "It is obvious that the purpose of this 
statute was to give to the board of education a comprehensive 
disciplinary control over the teachers of the schools of the city. 


264 



Its scope is sufficient to include every act on the part of the 

teacher, tending to impair her usefulness in her position, or to 
injuriously affect the administration of the school system." 

Every disciplinary power which the board of education pos- 
sessed under the former statutes is conferred upon the board of 
education under the above provisions of the City School Law, 
and the above holding by the Commissioner of Education obtains 
under present statutes. 

Under the said subdivision 3 of section 872, a teacher against 
whom charges are preferred is entitled to a hearing. At such 
hearing charges must be submitted, testimony must be adduced in 
support thereof, and the teacher must be given an opportunity to 
appear by counsel if he desires and to answer and defend. After 
such hearing the board of education may by an affirmative vote 
of a majority of the members of the board remove such teacher 
from his position. 

Under the provisions of section 1093 of the city charter which 
regulated the method of hearings upon charges in such cases, the 
statute authorized the board of education or a committee of such 
board to conduct the hearing of a teacher under charges. The 
charter also authorized the board to prescribe by-laws, to appoint 
committees, etc. Exercising this function, the board created a 
committee known as the committee on high schools and training 
schools and provided in its by-laws that such committee should 
hear all charges preferred against teachers under section 1093 of 
the charter. The committee made its report to the board of 
education. The board of education then determined upon the 
evidence presented through this report what action should be 
taken thereon. 

This was the procedure of hearing charges against teachers 
which had been in practice in New York city for several years. 
This was the identical-procedure pursued by the board of educa- 
tion in hearing the charges against these appellants. It may also 
be said that counsel for appellants offered no objection to this 
method of procedure at the hearing. More than that, such coun- 
sel distinctly stated several times at the hearing that the by-law 
providing for the trial of teachers under charges before such 
committee was still in force. It was recognized, therefore, by 



counsel for appellants and by the board of education and the 
corporation counsel that the procedure taken was in entire har- 
mony with the spirit and intent of the law. 

The question to be determined, therefore, is : Did the City 
School Law, which superseded the provisions of the city charter, 
provide a different method for hearing charges for the removal of 
teachers, or was it the intent of such law to continue the practice 
in hearing such charges which had prevailed under the provisions 
of the city charter. That portion of subdivision 3 of section 872 
of the City School Law which relates to the removal of teachers 
reads as follows : "* * * and shall not be removable except for 
cause after a hearing by the affirmative vote of a majority of the 
board." This language does not specifically provide that the 
hearing shall be before the board of education. This language 
states that a teacher shall not be removable except for cause, that 
the vote necessary to effect removal shall be a majority of the 
board, and that the teacher shall have a hearing. 

We may well consider whether or not this section of the act is 
not to be construed in connection with subdivisions 9 and 10 of 
section 868, hereinbefore cited. These subdivisions distinctly 
provide that the board of education may prescribe rules and 
regulations to make the provisions of the entire act effectual, to 
regulate all the transactions and business affairs of the board and 
to regulate the maintenance and discipline of the schools and all 
other interests and activities under the jurisdiction of the board 
of education. Since the language providing for the hearing does 
not distinctly state that it shall be before the board of education, 
and since the hearings in such matters under the previous stat- 
utes for a long period of years had been before a committee of 
the board of education, and since the board of education is given 
the very broad power to regulate the ad-ministration of all its 
affairs and interests through regulations prescribed by it, the 
question may well be raised as to whether or not the Legislature 
intended that such hearing must actually be before the board of 
education, or whether the Legislature intended to permit the 
board of education to determine by regulation that such charges 
should be heard before a committee of the board. It is not neces- 



sary, however, in this case to determine that question, because 
the City School Law did contain specific provisions regulating 
the matter of hearings. 

The City School Law became effective on June 8, 1917, and 
the board of education of the city of New York as constituted 
on that date was continued in office until the first Wednesday in 
January, 1918, when the mayor was required to appoint a new 
board to consist of seven members. The Legislature therefore 
specifically continued in office the board of forty-six members. 
It appears to have been the intention of the Legislature to con- 
tinue in this city the general plan of administration and of disci- 
pline of teachers and employees which was in operation at the 
time the City School Law took effect, until the termination of the 
board of forty-six members and the induction into office of the 
new board of seven members. Section 4 of chapter 786 of the 
Laws of 1917, which inserted the city school article in the Edu- 
cation Law, provided in part as follows: "The rules and regu- 
ations adopted by a board of education in pursuance of any law 
hereby repealed shall continue in full force and effect notwith- 
standing such repeal until the same are modified, amended or 
repealed by the board of education as provided in this chapter." 

As before stated, the by-laws which had been adopted by the 
board of education of the city of New York and which were in 
existence at the time the City School Law became effective pro- 
vided for a standing committee on high schools' and training 
schools. Subdivisions 4 and 5 of section 21 of these by-laws pro- 
vided as follows : 

"4. Except when otherwise ordered by the board, said com- 
mittee shall conduct all trials of principals and teachers in high 
schools and training schools against whom charges have been 
brought in accordance with section 1093 of the charter, and 
shall report its conclusions to the board for action thereon. 

"5. The conclusions adopted by said committee relative to 
charges preferred against any principal or teacher in a high 
school or a training school shall be reported to the board." 

This rule and others of a similar character relating to the 
trial of teachers against whom charges had been preferred had 

267 



been adopted by the board of education for the sole purpose of 
defining the procedure for the trial of teachers charged with con- 
duct for which they might be removed. The rule relates to the 
charges preferred under section 1093 of the charter. This, how- 
ever, was the only section of the charter under which charges are 
authorized. The rule would have been just as effective if the 
number of the section had been omitted. Inserting such section 
number in the regulation did not in fact place any restrictive 
power upon the effect of the regulation. The regulation was to 
meet a general purpose. That general purpose was to define the 
procedure in the trial of teachers. 

It is claimed by counsel for appellants that these regulations 
relating to hearings before a committee of the board specified 
that such committee should hear the charges preferred under 
section 1093 of the charter, and that as such section had been 
repealed by the City School Law these regulations became inef- 
fective. We cannot sustain this contention. The language of the 
law does continue these regulations. They have the same force 
and effect which they possessed before the City School Law was 
enacted, and it was entirely legal, therefore, for a committee of 
the board of education to hear these charges and report the re- 
sults thereof to the board. The general rule laid down by the 
courts in this respect was followed. People ex rel. Parrell v. 
Board of Police Commissioners, 20 Hun. 402 ; People ex rel. 
Swift v. Board of Police Commissioners, 31 id. 41 ; People ex rel. 
DeVries v. Hamilton, 84 App. Div. 369; Birdsall v. Clark, 73 
N. Y. 76. 

In People ex rel. Flanagan v. Board of Police Commissioners, 
91 N. Y. 97, the court states as follows: "The statute by clothing 
them with power, under their own by-laws intended to relieve 
the board from the necessity of all or a majority of its members 
being present when testimony in a case like this was being 
taken." 

Mufson Case 

Mr. Mufson was charged with "conduct unbecoming a 
teacher." The specifications of the charges were as follows : 

268 



"1. That the said Thomas Mufson, as teacher of English in 
the DeWitt Clinton High School, fails to live up to his duty as 
teacher, inasmuch as he conceives it proper to maintain before 
his classes an attitude of strict neutrality in class discussions 
dealing with 

"(a) The relative merits of anarchism as compared with the 
present government of. the United States; 

"(b) The duty of every one to support the Government of the 
United States in all measures taken by the Federal Government 
to insure the proper conduct of the present war."- 

Evidence upon irrelevant subjects was introduced at the trial, 
but in a review of the case we shall consider that evidence only 
which was properly admissible at the hearing. Mufson was 
specifically charged with maintaining an attitude of strict neu- 
trality in class discussions dealing with "The duty of every one 
to support the Government of the United States in all measures 
taken by the Federal Government to insure the proper conduct 
of the present war." Mr. Mufson testified in his own behalf 
before the committee of the board of education at the trial. The 
following is taken from his testimony : 

"Do you believe that you do labor under an obligation to 
inculcate respect for the President of the United States in the 
minds of your pupils?" Answer. "I decline to answer the 
question." 

"Are you in sympathy with the United States in this war 
against the German Government?" Answer. "I decline to 
answer the question." 

Mr. Smyth, counsel for appellant, then said to Mr. Mufson, 
"On what grounds? You are getting yourself into a position 
you do not appreciate." To his own counsel, Mr. Mufson said, 
"I appreciate fully just what I am saying. I am not irresponsi- 
ble. I know what I am saying." 

Counsel attempted to show his client that the questions were 
proper, that the board of education was entitled to know what his 
answers to these questions were, but Mr. Mufson said, "I decline 
to answer." This question was put to him : 

269 



"Do you believe it is your duty to urge the pupils in your 
class to give active support to the United States in this war 
against the German Government?" Answer. "Will you show 
that I have not done so in the class room?" 

"Will you answer my question or not?" Answer. "No, I 
will not." 

Every one of these questions was proper. They were related 
directly to one of the specifications in the charges. This testi- 
mony of appellant was proper evidence to be considered by the 
board of education in coming to a determination of the action 
which should be taken on the charges. The committee could 
properly take into consideration appellant's bearing and attitude 
upon the witness stand and his refusal to answer proper ques- 
tions as well as the answers which he did give. The board of 
education had the right to consider the fact that our government 
had declared war against Germany and that its action had the 
unanimous support of the people of the country. The board 
undoubtedly considered the fact that ten million of the young 
men of the land had been placed in a selective draft and were 
subject to call for service in the war; that the government was 
calling these men to service as rapidly as the organized ma- 
chinery of the government could make use of them ; that the 
government had announced that millions of men would be sent 
to Europe to fight in such war; and that the government was 
taxing the people of the country as they had never before been 
taxed and was raising billions of dollars to support the war. 
The fundamental principles upon which our government was 
founded as well as the civilization of the world depended upon 
the success of our arms. 

Under this condition of the nation's affairs a teacher in a 
public school system will not be permitted to hide behind any 
claim of privilege when a question affecting his loyalty to the 
government is concerned. He must come out in the open and 
cheerfully and unhesitatingly stand up and make known to the 
entire community in which he is employed that he is giving his 
unquestioned support to the President and to the government 
in the prosecution of this war, and if he refuses to give such 
assurance he shall not be permitted to discharge the high office 

270 



of teacher in an American public school system. The public 
schools of any country should be the expression of that country's 
ideals, the purpose of its institutions and its philosophy of life 
and of government. The school of America should be an expres- 
sion of American ideals, of her democratic institutions and of 
her philosophy of life and of representative government. There 
has not been a time in the history of the country when the public 
schools should be engaged more persistently, scientifically and 
patriotically in teaching the fundamental principles of America's 
philosophy of life and government than at the present time. A 
person who does not, without reservation, utilize all his intellec- 
tual powers and exert all his influence as a teacher in the public 
schools to make such schools an efficient and effective agency in 
the accomplishment of this great function of a school system 
is not a suitable person to be charged with the duties of the 
sacred office of teacher. A teacher who is unwilling to follow 
this course "fails to live up to his duty as teacher" and fails 
properly to support the government in this war. The board of 
education discharged a public obligation in finding appellant 
guilty on the charges preferred and in dismissing him from the 
teaching service of the city. 

Schneer Case 

Mr. Schneer was also charged with "conduct unbecoming a 
teacher." The specifications of the charges were as follows : 

"1. That the said A. Henry Schneer stated that patriotism 
should not be discussed in the DeWitt Clinton High School. 

"2. That the said A. Henry Schneer stated that persons 
wearing the uniform of a soldier of the United States should not 
be permitted to address the student body in the assemblies of 
the DeWitt Clinton High School. 

"3. That the said A. Henry Schneer stated that the Board 
of Education has no right to institute military training in the 
schools. 

"4. That in or about the year 1917 the said A. Henry Schneer 
wrote a bibliography of contemporary literature copies of which 
he caused to be placed on sale in the store of the DeWitt Clinton 



High School, which contained references to works which should 
not have been called to the attention of the students of that 
school." 

Three of these specifications relate to Mr. Schneer's loyalty 
and support of the government in the conduct of this war. The 
testimony'of Superintendent Tildsley, of Dr. Paul, principal of 
the DeWitt Clinton High School, and of Mr. Anthony, a teacher 
in the school, shows that in substance appellant stated he would 
not allow a soldier of the United States army in his uniform to 
address the student body of the high school unless some person 
not in such uniform was allowed to speak at the same meeting of 
the students. There is very much testimony on this point. The 
views expressed by appellant Schneer as understood by these 
three responsible members of the supervising and teaching staff 
of the city are quite different from the views which Mr. Schneer 
testified at the trial he did express. The board of education's 
committee heard all these witnesses, observed the demeanor and 
spirit manifested by them and could very properly come to a 
determination as to what actually did take place at the interview 
when Mr. Schneer gave expression to his views on the subject 
in question. 

The views expressed by appellant as revealed today through 
his own testimony at the trial are not the views which should 
be expressed by a teacher in the public schools who is guiding 
the youth of a city. However, the action of the board of educa- 
tion in dismissing appellant was not wholly based upon his atti- 
tude of support to the government in its war program. One of 
the specifications in the charges against appellant was that he % 
had written a bibliography of contemporary literature which he 
placed on sale in the high school and that such bibliography 
brought to the attention of boys a type of literature unfit for 
them to read. There is no dispute as to the facts in this matter. 
Appellant wrote the bibliography and made the request that the 
booklet be placed on sale in the book store of the high school. 
His request was complied with. In his notes which follow the 
title page he states that the list contains the "best" that is 
thought and said in "Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Social Theory. 
Science and Philosophy." He also states that he will give further 
information to those who desire it on any work or author. He 

272 



has incorporated in this booklet many sub-titles and among these 
were the following: "Heart Throbs of the Midnight Hours," 
"The Wilder Fires of Sex," "Fragrant Kisses of Passion," 
"Arias of a Vibrant Soul," "Shadowed Streams of Love," 
"The Hidden Springs of Sex and Desire," "The Tremulous 
Poesy of Passion" and many others of similar character. Some 
of the best works of all fields of literature were included in this 
booklet ; but the above sub-titles were included and recommended 
as the "best" in literature for boys sixteen and seventeen years 
of age. A man who possesses such a perverted idea of the kind 
of literature which boys of these ages should be encouraged to 
read while they are being trained for citizenship in high school 
is unfit to be trusted with the development of the character of 
boys. It was the duty of the board of education to protect the 
boys of New York city from a teacher of such debased notions 
of the "best" in literature. The board properly discharged that 
duty in the dismissal of appellant. It is claimed by appellant 
that the booklet had the approval of his superiors before it was 
placed on sale. There was loose administration somewhere 
which permitted this book to be placed on sale. Permission to 
place the booklet on sale, however, does not modify the con- 
ception which appellant has of the literature which boys should 
read. 

Schmalhausen Case 

Mr. Schmalhausen was charged, as were the other two ap- 
pellants in this proceeding, with "conduct unbecoming a 
teacher." The specification of such charges were as follows : 

"1. That the said Samuel D. Schmalhausen considered it 
not to be his duty to develop in the students under his control 
instinctive respect for the President of the United States as such, 
Governor of the State of New York as such, and other federal, 
state and municipal officers as such. 

"2. That in making written criticisms of a certain letter 
dated October 22, 1917, addressed to the President of the United 
States, written by H. Herman, a pupil under his instruction, the 
said Samuel D. Schmalhausen failed to make such criticisms of 



the contents of the said letter as would lead the pupil to perceive 
the gross disloyalty involved in his point of view as expressed 
in the said letter. 

"3. That the said Samuel D. Schmalhausen stated that as an 
instructor of the said pupil he would consider it proper to allow 
the said pupil to write and to read aloud to his classmates similar 
seditious letters addressed to the President of the United States. 

"4. That the said Samuel D. Schmalhausen, as evidenced by 
newspaper articles printed over his signature, has a concept of 
his function as teacher that renders him unfit to be an instructor 
in the high schools." 

. During the latter part of October Miss Ellen E. Garrigues, the 
head of the English department of the DeWitt Clinton High 
School, was directed by the principal of the school to attend one 
of the recitation periods conducted by appellant Schmalhausen, 
one of the English teachers in that school. The DeWitt Clinton 
High School is a school for boys only. The boys in attendance 
upon the class which Miss Garrigues inspected were about six- 
teen or seventeen years of age. The boys had written compo- 
sitions upon the following subject, which Mr. Schmalhausen had 
assigned them : "Write a very frank letter to Woodrow Wilson 
commenting within the limits of your knowledge upon his con- 
duct of the war against the German Government." Mr. Schmal- 
hausen denies that the word "very" was used in the subject 
which he assigned. This appears immaterial and the subject 
may be considered with the word "very" eliminated. 

The first half of the recitation period was devoted to reading 
the compositions which the boys had written and the second 
half to study. Mr. Schmalhausen directed a boy to read the 
composition he had written. The boy read it and in it he ob- 
jected to the form of the draft upon the ground that it called 
people who had dependents. After the boy had read his compo- 
sition Mr. Schmalhausen stated that the objection raised had 
been remedied by later adjustment of the draft. Another boy 
read his composition, objecting to the Liberty Loan upon the 
ground that the people were already too highly taxed because 
of the rise in prices. The appellant made no comment on that 



composition. Others were then read. A boy then read his com- 
position in which he stated that we should not attempt to pro- 
mulgate democracy without having a better form of democracy. 
A boy in the class arose and said "Germany had a democracy 
more truly than we." Another boy then said that "democracy in 
Germany was economic and not political." Miss Garrigues 
asked one boy who had participated in the discussion if he was 
an American citizen and he replied that he was and that his 
father was. Miss Garrigues responding by saying, "I can 
scarcely believe it." Another boy began to read his composition 
but the bell rang and the recitation period was closed. Miss 
Garrigues then requested that all the composition papers which 
had been written be collected and given to her. This was done. 
Miss Garrigues was incensed because she did not regard the 
proceedings in the recitation room as patriotic. She informed 
the class that she did not believe they realized what they had 
written or they would feel "deeply ashamed." She also informed 
Mr. Schmalhausen that in her judgment the assignment was an 
unwise one. She further told appellant that she did not regard 
him as very loyal and he replied that he "was loyal to the truth 
rather than to persons." 

Among the composition papers handed in to Miss Garrigues 
was the following, which was written by Hyman Herman : 

5Son gsalu " "To the Defender of Humanity and Champion of 
Democracy — Woodrow Wilson : — 

"Undoubtedly, the time will come when people 
not so ignorant and unappreciative as we are, will 
unanimously voice their approval of the work you 
are now engaged in — a work in which you have 
pledged all our lives, fortune* homes [&] and honor, 
?x C a e g ssive ted without in the least consulting us, ignorant brutes 
emotionalism. t h at we arCj — so fa^ those who are so nobly sacri- 
ficing themselves for so righteous a cause may in 
the hereafter realize the fruits of their toil. In short, 
sanit er in any y° u are rea< *y to slaughter us all in order that we 
«his ? asser- may enjoy in death which we are now lacking in 

life. But please, Your Excellency, do not deign 

275 



Very con- 
fused utter- 



Do you 

take these 
remarks se 
riously ? 



Not a clear 
reference. 



Not clear 
me. 



Clumsily 
worded. 



even to listen to me; I am only of the [20th] cen- 
tury, while you are a Messiah in disguise, sent tc 
show us the path to virtue, righteousness and spir- 
itual glory. (The highly despicable material glory 
is too low for us, and we gladly hurl it at those high 
priests of materialism in their Holy of Holies, which 
I need not tell you is Wall Street.) Therefore, My 
Most Exalted Ruler, peruse my worth-worthless 
epistle with deepest scorn on your noble features, 
and immediately cast it into the fire ; but please 
forget not to wash and rub your hands thoroughly, 
and for that purpose I recommend the sacred oil of 
the Standard Oil Company. 

"When the Allies first declared war on the Cen- 
tral Powers, all were kept guessing as to the exact 
causes of it. Of course, the breaking of Belgium's 
neutrality and the Allies' promise to protect her, 
was too weak a reason to the man not too influenced 
by the "yellow" press to be able to use a little think- 
ing power. No man with any brains whatsoever, 
would accept that as proof which has been proven 
to be empty, for would that have been the first time 
England would have broken a contract, or France ; 
had Eng. [&] and France been so pure and faultless 
until then? Yet, for lack of a better reason, this 
had to be offered. But as soon as Russia freed itself 
from its yoke and the U. S. entered the war, it took 
only a comparatively short time before the cry of a 
"War for Democracy" and a similar war-yell of 
"Down with Prussianism" began to permeate, the 
already polluted atmosphere of this nation. What 
mattered the petty Italian autocracy, and the exact 
facsimiles of the Russia of the pat, Roumania [&] 
Servia? Certainly, the entrance of Siam on the part 
of the Allies changed not the outlook, although Siam 
is the only complete autocracy in the world including 



Sp. 

Same attitude. 



In what spe- 
cific particu- 
lars? 



Recall Presi- 
dent Wilson's 
differentia- 
tion between 
German 
Gov't, and 
People. 



Germany. Pray, Your Highness, do not misunder- 
stand me — I do not sympathize with the autocratic 
Germany and there is no one more than I who wants 
to see the complete obliteration of all Junkers [&] 
and Pan-Germanists. But how is it that the U. S., 
a country far from democratic (and daily proving 
itself to be such) and Eng., [land] the imperial and 
selfish (and we exclude all minor participants) un- 
dertake to slam [word usage bad] democracy upon a 
nation whether it likes it or not? What unparalleled 
audacity to attempt to force 78,000,000 people to 
adopt a certain kind of Gov't! If we mean theii 
benefit, then the Germans surely know what they 
want and need us not. Kiss them not and bite them 
not. [crude language] You don't seem to realize 
that you are simply embittering them against such 
audacious conduct. 



Not accu- 
rately pre- 
sented. 



Be more 
specific. 



Foolish at 
titude his- 
torically. 



When? Do 
you believe 



For a 
thoughtful 
student, this 
statement 
sounds irra- 
tional. 



"As far as I understand, we are for no indemni- 
ties and no annexations — of course, except a billion 
here, a billion there, Alsace-Lorraine to France, 
Trieste and the Isonzo region to Italy, and so forth. 
Why is it that France, which has never willingly 
returned any territory acquired in her numerous 
wars should thus demand a province already a part 
of Germany for the past [47] years? And why are 
her Allies so ready in backing her up? If this be 
the war's programme, then why throw dust into our 
eyes. ['Tis true we are only dust, but too much is 
too much.] Finally, if our aim be the annihilation 
of Prussianism, then why in the name of Heave,n 
have you refused the offer made by [Germanyj, 
which included the evacuation of Belgium, disarm- 
ament of nations and freedom of the seas? Surely 
then your purpose is to get supreme domination and 
to crush Germany for no reason it seems, -except a 
mad desire for murder, meanwhile making us the 
goats. 



Sorry to find "But, My Most Venerable Lord, I fear I am tir- 

this unintel- ' J 

ligent com- i ng you am j j shudder to think that as a result you 

ment in your b J > J 

work - may be delayed in your grand wholesale murder. 

why did you Therefore, with the sincerest hopes that you will not 

Ante this? _ r J 

take anything I have written to heart, 

"I remain, 

"Your most obedient and humble servant, 

"HYMAN HERMAN." 

The notes in the margin of the above composition were made 
by Mr. Schmalhausen some days after the composition was 
written. 

This composition was not read in the class. Miss Garrigues 
took it with her when the recitation closed. It was a subject of 
consideration when appellant discussed the matter with Superin- 
tendent Tildsley, Dr. Paul and Mr. Anthony. The evidence 
shows that after reflecting upon the matter for several days Mr. 
Schmalhausen said in substance that he regarded the subject a 
proper assignment ; that if the boy felt the sentiments expressed 
in his composition it was entirely proper for him to express such 
sentiments ; that the President of the United States was to re- 
ceive as much respect from a boy as the President showed such 
boy; that he would permit the boy to read the same letter the 
second and even the third time, if he should write it, and that 
he thought a boy who would write such a letter was qualified to 
receive a diploma of graduation from the school. 

The undisputed evidence in the case shows that the foregoing 
is an accurate account of what occurred during the recitation 
period of a class in English conducted by appellant in a public 
high school in New York city. What influence was this teacher 
exerting over the boys under his instruction who would within 
one or two years be within the present draft ages? What would 
be the effect if all the boys of similar ages in the nation were 
subjected to like influences? What must have been the effect 
upon the minds of many of these boys who heard that recitation 
and observed the attitude of this appellant who was their teacher? 
The composition written by the boy Herman is an answer to 
these questions. Shall a teacher of boys who permitted such a 

278 



recitation in his class-room be continued in the teaching service 
of the State at the very time the nation is sending four or five 
million of her young men to fight for the preservation of the 
ideals cherished by the free people of America? At no time has 
he offered proper admonition or rebuke to the pupils who failed 
to exhibit proper respect for the President of the United States 
or for the institutions of their country. At no time since the 
incidents in question occurred in the recitation has appellant 
shown a spirit of mortification or indignation. On the contrary, 
his conduct at the trial and otherwise gives the stamp of approval 
to all seditious utterances on that occasion. 

It must be held that teachers have the same right to form 
judgments and to express opinions upon public questions that 
other citizens possess. A teacher is not compelled to sacrifice his 
individuality, his personal liberties or his judgment upon social 
and public problems simply because he is a teacher. Upon ques- 
tions on which citizens generally may express different opinions 
or judgments, a teacher has the right to express his opinion and 
to form his own judgment. The power conferred by law upon 
the Commissioner of Education will be freely exercised to pro- 
tect this right of a teacher whenever the authority over such 
teacher attempts to restrict or annihilate it. There is, however, 
no difference of opinion among the patriotic citizens of this 
country as to the duty of all Americans in supporting the Presk 
dent of the United States and the government in the prosecution 
of this war. This support must be open, direct and unassailable. 
There is also no difference of opinion among the patriotic people 
of this State or nation as to the obligation of every person who 
assumes the office of teacher of boys in a public school of the 
State to support the government to teach respect and love for 
our democratic institutions and for the President as such of this 
republic. The standard by which teachers are to be judged in 
this respect was well stated by Doctor John H. Finley, Commis- 
sioner of Education, in an address before the teachers of the 
State at the annual meeting of their association at Syracuse in 
November, 1917. His words upon this subject are as follows : 

"As to ourselves, the teachers, representing as we do the 
State which has entrusted to us her most precious possession, 
there is just one answer. We must do with our mind and daily 

279 



speech what the soldier does with his body and in his daily train- 
ing or fighting; that is, support our country in the cause to 
which it is committed in its own defense and that of human free- 
dom. The same degree of loyalty is asked of a teacher as of a 
soldier. If a teacher cannot give that unquestioning support to 
the country that makes his own individual freedom in time of 
peace possible, his place is not in the school. I will not say 
where it is, but of all places in the world, he should not be in the 
school as the representative of his country." 

Measured by this sound, patriotic standard, appellant Schmal- 
hausen has forfeited his right to represent his country in the 
schoolroom. 

The action of the board of education in removing these appel- 
lants is sustained and the appeals herein are dismissed. 

In Witness Whereof, I, Thomas E. Finegan, Acting Com- 
missioner of Education of the State of New York. 
[Seal] do hereunto set my hand and affix the seal of the 

State Education Department, at the city of Albany, 
this 22d day of October, 1918. 

THOMAS E. FINEGAN, 
Acting Commissioner of Education. 



(KRALD SQUARE PRESS 
NEW YORK 



022 118 138 4 



<r . * 





KfWK 



